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B    E    SET    ^Ib 


Inferences  onth 
cBlessedTI^inity 


0'Co;^;^ELi 


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COKFERENCES 


ON  THE 


BLESSED  TRINITY. 


BY 

The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  J.  O'CONNELL,  O.S.B., 

ST.    MARY'S  COLLEGE,   GASTON  CO.,   N.   C. 


^1 


New  York  : 

THE  CATHOLIC   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY  CO., 

9  Barclay  Street. 

1883. 


\Q^  STACIC 


Copyrighted  by 
THE  CATHOLIC  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY  CO., 

■  1882. 


7" 


^ 


c^    >^ 


TO  THE 

ONE  GOD 

IN  THREE  DIVINE  PERSONS, 

THE    FATHER,   AND    THE    SON,    AND    THE    HOLY    GHOST, 

WHO  ARE  REALLY  DISTINCT  AND  EQUAL  IN  ALL  THINGS, 

THIS  HUMBLE  TRIBUTE  IS  REVERENTLY  OFFERED, 

THROUGH  THE 

immaculate  Uirfitu  fttotljcr, 

AS  AN  ACT  OF  THE  MOST  FIRM  FAITH  IN  THE 

ADORABLE  MYSTERY, 

BT 
THE  LAST  AND  LEAST  OF  HIS  CHILDREN, 

JEREMIAH  JOSEPH  O'CONNELL,  O.S.B. 


THESE  THREE  ARE  ONE  "—1  John  v.  7, 


098 


FACDLTAS   PRJILATI  REGULARIS. 


KmprCmatur : 

BONIFACIUS, 

Abbas  et  Frceses  Congreg. 

Datnm  a  CoUegio  Sanctse  Mariae,  in  comitatu  Gastoniensis,  Carolinae  Septentri- 
onalis,  Festo  Sancti  Joannis  ante  Portam  Latinam,  a.d.  1882. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Paok 

Dedication, 3 

Approbation, 4 

Authors 7 

Prefatory  Epistle  to  James  McMahon,  Esq.,      ...        9 

CONFERENCE  I. 
On  God's  Existence, 15 

CONFERENCE  II. 
On  the  Divine  Perfections, 51 

CONFERENCE  III. 

On  the  Di\inity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,       ....      88 

CONFERENCE  IV. 
On  the  Divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (continued),    .        .119 

CONFERENCE  V. 
On  the  Divinity  and  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,        .        .     150 

CONFERENCE  VI. 
On  the  Blessed  Trinity  in  Unity  of  Divine  Nature,         .        .     180 

CONFERENCE  VII. 
On  Creation, 207 

CONFERENCE  VIU. 
On  the  Real  Presence, 235 


AUTHORS. 

The  following  works  were  consulted  in  com- 
piling this  volume,  and  have  furnished  much 
material ;  a  general  indebtedness  is  gratefully 
acknowledged  without  special  quotations  : 

Archbishop  Kenrick's  Theology. 
Perrone's  Theology. 
Petavius  on  tlie  Trinity. 
Lessius  on  the  Divine  Attributes. 
Bibliotheca  Patrum. 
Summa  of  St.  Thomas. 
City  of  God — St.  Augustine. 
Suarez  de  Deo. 

Fenelon  on  the  Existence  of  God. 
Bishop  England's  Works. 
Bossuet's  Works. 
Massillon's  Sermons. 
Lelandais'  Sermons. 
Father  Gratry's  Works. 
The  Gentle  Sceptic — Father  Walworth. 
Cardinal  Wiseman's  Lectures. 
Father  Faber's  Works. 

The  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St.  Ignatius— Bel- 
lecius. 


AUTHORS. 

The  Pastoral  of  Archbishop  Joly. 

Pastoral  of  Archbishop  Desprez. 

Cardinal  Billiot's  Works. 

Cardinal  Manning's  Sermons. 

Cardinal  Newman's  Sermons. 

Archbishop  Gibbons' s  Faith  of  Our  Fathers. 

Fletcher's  Sermons. 

Abbe  Noel's  Sermons. 

Abbe  Perraud's  Discourses. 

Definitions  of  the  Vatican  Council. 

American  CatJiolic  Quarterly  Review. 

The  Catholic  World,  and  many  other  sources. 


PEEFATORY    EPISTLE 


TO 


James  McMahon,  Esa,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


My  Deak  and  Esteemed  Friend  : 

Tliis  treatise  embraces  lectures  and  sermons 
delivered  frequently  during  a  period  of  thiity- 
eiglit  years  in  the  holy  ministry,  and  varying 
in  length,  style,  and  form  to  suit  the  characters 
of  the  different  audiences.  Honored  with  the 
chair  of  theology  in  tjiis  college,  the  class  reci- 
tations and  doctrinal  discussions  have  given 
the  theses  their  present  title  and  shape.  At 
the  request  of  several  friends  I  now  offer  them 
for  perusal  to  the  American  people,  and  in  fact 
to  all  serious  readers,  whether  Catholic  or  non- 
Catholic. 

At  one  time  it  was  hoped  that  after  the  tur- 
bulent so-called  Reformation  should  have  spent 
itself,  and  after  people  should  be  disabused 
of  the  errors  brought  about  by  the  ^'Reforma- 


10  PREFATORY  EPISTLE. 

tion,"  the  greater  number  would  return  to  tlie 
faith  of  their  fathers — to  the  one  true  fold. 
Such,  unfortunately,  has  not  been  the  case.  It 
is  true  the  masses  of  the  people  of  Western  Eu- 
rope did  not  formally  apostatize  ;  their  faith 
was  stolen  from  them ;  they  were  in  reality 
cheated  of  their  bright  inheritance.  And  this 
was  an  additional  ground  for  hope.  Never  de- 
ciding for  themselves,  only  a  national  revo- 
lution could  convert  them.  But  the  more  re- 
cent upheavings  of  society  wear  their  face  in 
a  different  direction. 

Infidelity  and  intellectual  impiety  are  daily 
increasing  more  and  more  ;  and  though,  with 
some  exceptions,  not  formally  our  national  and 
characteristic  sins,  the  common  attitude  in  the 
United  States  towards  God  is  worldliness  and 
indifference.  An  insatiable  thirst  for  wealth, 
humanitarianism,  self-laudation,  a  growing  ten- 
dency to  free-love,  and  a  merely  outward  re- 
spect for  worship  of  some  sort  are  striking 
features  of  non- Catholic  society. 

This  treatise  is  published  with  the  purpose  of 
contraventing  these  evils,  and  of  serving  as  an 
antidote  to  the  fast-increasing  intellectual  im- 
piety of  this  otherwise  happy  land.  The  weakest 
barrier  against  irreligion,  even  the  bare  assertion 
of  the  truth,  can  scarcely  fail  to  produce  some 


PKEFATORY  EPISTLE.  11 

though  partial  good  ;  it  will  at  least  excite  a 
good  thought  somewhere,  the  value  of  which 
all  the  doctors  of  theology  could  never  fully 
comprehend  nor  adequately  explain. 

Although  they  have  been  ably  and  more  fully 
written  by  others,  I  have,  at  great  pains,  sys- 
tematized some  of  the  leading  timths  of  reli- 
gion, and  I  have  compressed  the  proofs  into 
a  moderate-sized  volume  that  will  be  accessible 
to  most  readers.  I  have  presented  the  chief 
arguments  in  their  simj^lest  form  and  in  an 
unbroken  connection,  one  suj^porting  the  other 
or  else  flowing  from  it  as  a  logical  conse- 
quence and  constituting  a  system  that  cannot 
fail  to  impress  the  mind  of  the  serious  and 
well-disposed  reader  in  favor  of  our  adorable 
faith,  and  perhaps  subdue  wandering  thoughts 
in  the  mind  of  the  Christian  which  tease  if 
they  do  not  assail  his  belief.  This  substan- 
tial abridgment  of  the  principal  proofs  of  the 
MOST  SUBLIME  MYSTERY,  though  necessarily 
concise,  is  sufficiently  comprehensive  to  be 
clear,  and  it  enables  the  reader  to  take  in  at 
a  glance  the  entire  structure  of  the  arguments. 

There  are  eight  Conferences  on  the  Blessed 
Trinity:  they  embrace  the  Existence  of  God 
the  Father ;  the  Divine  Perfections  ;  the  Di- 
vinity of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;   the  Divinity 


12  PEEFATORY  EPISTLE. 

and  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  Tri- 
nity of  Persons  in  the  Divine  Unity.  Here, 
perhaps,  the  treatise  might  end ;  but  I  have 
added  two  other  Conferences,  one  on  the  Crea- 
tion and  the  other  on  the  Blessed  Eucharist — 
that  is  to  say,  on  the  greatest  works  of  God, 
because  of  their  inaccessible  heights,  closely 
allied  to  the  mystery  of  the  Most  Holy 
Trinity  and  to  the  works  of  all  the  divine 
Persons  combined,  like  all  other  operations, 
with  this  difference  :  that  the  Blessed  Eucha- 
rist is  God  Himself  and  is  what  the  Church 
styles  in  the  Holy  Mass  TnE  mystery  of 
FAITH  by  excellence. 

To  relieve  the  labor  of  pondering  on  argu- 
ments found  in  the  region  of  pure  truth  I 
have  interwoven  moral  reflections  suggested  by 
the  mysteries,  and  no  less  for  the  instruction 
and  edification  of  the  student  or  pious  reader. 
Without  the  safeguard  of  prayer  St.  Paul  as- 
sures us  that  science  puffs  up. 

I  have  studiously  avoided  all  subtil  ties  and 
school  questions,  which  seldom  edify,  but  ad- 
minister rather  to  curiosity,  and  which  have 
often  been  formalized  into  heresies.  Surely 
we  should  be  contented  with  what  has  been 
defined  by  the  Church  as  of  faith  and  with 
what    we    certainly    know.     Every   doctrine   of 


PREFATORY   EPISTLE.  13 

tlie  Cliurch  claims  the  homage  and  adoration 
of  angels  and  saints  for  time  and  eternity. 

All  these  Conferences  are  suitable  for  the 
pulpit,  and  have  been  preached  by  myself 
with  much  advantage  to  the  people.  Too  long 
in  their  present  shape,  I  have  divided  each 
and  have  numbered  the  points  at  which  the 
enlightened  clergyman  can  break  off,  to  con- 
tinue the  argument  on  another  occasion  with- 
out detriment  to  the  unity  of  the  subject. 
This  has  been  my  plan. 

I  have  taken  great  pains  to  secure  accuracy, 
but  if  all  the  notes  and  quotations  were  ex- 
hibited the  book  would  swell  to  an  inconve- 
nient bulk.  I  have,  therefore,  given  without 
special  references  a  summary  of  most  of  the 
authors  consulted. 

The  volume  is  published  with  your  co-op- 
eration and  through  your  zeal  for  the  diffu- 
sion of  the  knowledge  which  is  in  Christ  Je- 
sus, and  I  trust,  therefore,  that  you  will  reap 
an  abundant  reward. 

I  submit  the  volume  without  any  reserve  and 
in  all  respects  to  the  judgment  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  and  her  Infallible  Head,  the 
Pope  ;  and  I  disavow  beforehand  any  proposi- 
tions that  may  be  at  variance  with  the  autho- 
rized teachings  of  our  Holy  Mother  the  Church. 


14  PREFATORY   EPISTLE. 

I   have  the  honor  to  be,  my   dear  Mr.    Mc- 
Mahon,  your  devoted  friend  in  Christ, 

J.    J.    O'COiSTNELL,    O.S.B. 

Benedictine  Monastery  of  St.  Mary's  Help, 

Gaston  County,  Xorth  Carolina, 

Feast  of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity,  1882l 


COISTFEEENOE    I. 


ON  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  THE  ONE  TRUE  OOD.— 
THE  FATHER,  THE  FIRST  PERSON  OF  THE 
BLESSED   TRINITY. 


God's  Existence  a  Necessity — If  He  is  not,  we  are  not — The  Con- 
sent of  all  Mankind,  Reason,  Nature,  Eveiything  —  The 
Creation  of  Man — Revelation — No  Effect  without  a  Cause — 
From  Nothing  Nothing  comes — Who  is  God  ? — Chance — 
Second  Causes — Atoms,  Numbers — Nonsense — Sad  End  of 
Infidels— The  Blessed  Trinity— One  God— Idolatry— Nobility 
of  INIan's  Origin — God  came  and  spoke  to  us  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments — We  saw  Him,  touched  Ilim,  and  put  Ilim 
to  Death — He  arose  from  the  Dead  and  is  with  us  in  tlie 
Catholic  Church — The  Nineteenth  Century  has  greater  Mo- 
tives of  Credibility  than  the  First — The  Vocation  of  Abraham 
— The  Law  and  the  Prophets — The  Catholic  Church  a  stand- 
ing Miracle  and  the  Witness — Jesus  Christ  as  God — The 
Creator  and  Redeemer — The  Light  of  the  World — He  is  not 
the  God  of  the  Stoics — Thabor  and  Calvaiy — Practical  Athe- 
ism— How  is  Doubt  possible  ? — Faith  an  Act  of  the  Will  and 
Understanding — Not  acquired  by  human  Learning — Why 
are  not  all  learned  people  Catholic  ? — Foe — Plato — Nihilism 
— The  absolute  Absurdity — Prayer — Moral  Reflections,  etc. 

I. 

/  am  who  am. — Exod.  iii.  14. 

My  Brethren: 

You  will  merit  an  endless  recompense  as  often 
as  you  recite  the  first  article  of  the  Apostles' 
and  Nicene  Creeds.     They  are  the  formulse  of 


16  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  by  them 
do  we  know  the  fact  of  God's  existence  un- 
mixed with  error. 

''I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty, 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  And  of  all  things 
visible  and  invisible."  In  order  to  condemn 
the  recent  theory  of  spontaneous  production 
and  brutal  development,  the  Holy  Ghost,  in 
the  Vatican  Council,  adds,  ''and  in  all  their 
substance." 

Scientifically  we  all  know  that  God  is  ;  by  the 
virtue  of  Catholic  faith  we  have  the  fact  on  a 
supernatural  basis,  in  order,  as  TertuUian  re- 
marks, that  there  may  be  room  for  an  eternal 
recompense. 

This  divine  truth  is  the  first  known  to  be 
written  in  created  language ;  and  justly,  be- 
cause it  is  the  foundation  and  cause  of  all  re- 
ligion, civilization,  and  knowledge,  of  all  that 
is  or  can  be,  and  without  which  nothing  can  be. 

The  demonstration  of  the  divine  existence  is 
the  easiest  and  the  most  simple,  the  greatest  and 
the  most  essential,  act  of  human  reason,  which 
sound  philosophy  has  analyzed,  discussed,  and 
confirmed  with  so  much  precision  and  detail 
for  thousands  of  years  that  it  has  attained 
mathematical  certainty,  and  it  is  indeed  diffi- 
cult to  conceive  how  a  sane  man  can  doubt  it. 


FIRST  CONFERENCE.  17 

The  denial  surpasses  in  infamy  parricide, 
suicide,  or  any  other  crime  in  the  dark  roll  of 
immorality.  It  is  Deicide,  the  fountain  of  all 
iniquity.  It  is  a  sin  against  all  that  exists,  for 
God's  cause  and  His  interests  are  common  to 
all  creatures,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  assures  us 
that  the  whole  universe  will  avenge  their  con- 
tempt. 

We  trace  the  first  sad  origin  of  this  denial  to 
heaven.  The  angel  through  x^ride  rebelled  against 
his  bountiful  Creator,  and  was  condemned  vnth 
his  forlorn  hosts  to  darkness  and  endless  tor- 
ments. The  once  bright  leader  who  shone  like 
the  morning  star,  had  nevertheless  perverted  his 
intellect  by  denying,  not,  indeed,  the  existence 
but  the  rights  of  his  Maker,  and  was  therefore 
changed  into  a  creeping  thing,  the  most  hateful 
of  all  brutes.  A  transformation  no  less  dis- 
astrous takes  place  in  the  soul  of  every  man 
who  unnaturally,  and  despite  of  reason,  con- 
science, and  religion,  raises  his  hand  against 
the  Most  High  and  in  its  worst  form  reasserts 
tlie  frightful  blasphemy.  The  very  name  of 
atheist  is  so  hateful  that  the  impious  are 
ashamed  of  it  and  they  retain  the  Holy  Name 
of  God  while  affecting  to  reject  its  sub- 
stance. 

God    is    the  Creator  and  sovereign    Lord    of 


18  THE  BLESSED   TKmiTY. 

heaven  and  eartli  and  of  all  things.  He  is 
eternal ;  He  always  was  and  always  will  be ; 
He  had  no  beginning  and  will  have  no  end. 
The  great  First  Cause,  he  is  self-existent,  infi- 
nite, absolute,  free  from  the  limitations  and  con- 
ditions of  creatures.  He  is  by  the  necessity  of 
His  being.  It  is  impossible  for  Him  not  to  be, 
or  otherwise  than  as  He  is,  with  all  His  infin- 
ite perfections  and  in  an  adorable  Trinity  of  per- 
sons. The  Blessed  Trinity  is  Grod.  The  divine 
nature,  one  and  indivisible,  is  in  each  Person 
in  its  infinite  plenitude.  He  is  One,  One  essen- 
tially, and  is  Oneness  itself.  He  is  an  unlimited 
ocean  of  being  and  embraces  all  things  within 
Himself.  In  Him  loe  live  and  mom  and  have 
our  heing.  He  is  a  pure  spirit,  has  no  body, 
and  makes  no  impression  on  our  eyes.  He  sees 
and  knows  all  things,  even  our  most  secret 
actions  and  thoughts.  He  can  do  all  things, 
and  nothing  possible  can  be  diflicult  to  Him. 
He  is  infinitely  good  and  great,  and  nothing 
good  can  be  found  in  any  creature  which  He 
does  not  possess  and  which  does  not  emanate 
from  Him. 

He  is  the  Father  of  all,  and  in  Him  are  all 
paternities  in  heaven  and  earth.  Every  human 
being,  Christian,  Jew,  Mahometan,  or  idolater, 
all  are  His  children,  whom  He  will  judge  singly. 


FIRST  CONFERENCE.  19 

and  He  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his 
works.  In  His  sight  this  world  is  a  speck  only 
in  creation.  He  has  made  millions  of  starry 
worlds  ;  each  of  these  He  could  multiply  mil- 
lions of  times  over,  yet  He  remains  unchanged. 
Let  thimi  exceed  angelic  and  human  numbers, 
and  they  will  no  more  than  touch  the  borders 
of  His  infinite  power  and  wisdom. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  the  Catholic  Church 
and  her  faith  from  the  beginning;  the  belief 
of  the  synagogue  and  of  the  human  race  since 
its  origin.  The  creature  knows  his  Author  al- 
most by  instinct  and  intuition.  The  All-Holy 
revealed  Himself  to  man  at  the  first  instant  of 
man' s  formation ;  of  a  divine  necessity  the 
existence  of  God  was  in  the  first  thought  of  man 
or  angel. 

If,  led  by  the  hand  of  revelation  and  reason 
and  in  a  spirit  of  prayer,  I  reverently  draw 
aside  the  veil  of  the  Sanctuary  and  exhibit  the 
presence  of  God  in  some  of  His  works,  my 
sole  object  is  to  increase  the  love  and  reverence 
of  my  fellow-man  for  the  Father  of  mercies, 
who  called  us  out  of  nothing  and  bestowed  upon 
us  all  that  we  possess.  Holy  Mary,  seat  of 
wisdom,  obtain  for  us  by  thy  prayers  light  and 
grace  to  know  and  love  our  Creator  and  thine, 
that  we  may  hereafter  see  and  enjoy  Him  in 


20  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

His  bliss  and  glory  whom  we  revere  and  con- 
template in  His  works  and  especially  in  onr 
own  souls. 

There  never  existed  a  nation  or  race  of  people 
who  did  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  God. 
Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Asia,  the 
cradle-land  of  the  human  race  and  where  our 
civilization  had  its  origin ;  in  mystic  Egypt ; 
in  Africa  ;  from  Malabar  to  the  Bight  of  Benin  ; 
in  all  the  populous  cities  and  along  the  classic 
shores  of  Europe ;  in  this  young  and  yet  old 
America,  the  secret  of  creation,  like  the  prophet's 
hiding-place,  from  Kane's  Sea  to  the  headlands 
that  face  the  antarctic  ice,  and  among  all  the 
coral  islands  of  the  ocean,  God  is  known.  Civil- 
ized or  barbarous,  the  forgotten  myriads  and 
the  few  who  have  left  footprints  on  the  shores 
of  time,  all  have  believed  that  they  were  made 
by  Almighty  God.  Whoever  denies  this  uni- 
versal conviction  is  scarcely  sane  and  should 
be  sent  for  safe-keeping  to  one  of  our  lunatic 
asylums.  ''Tell  me,"  said  an  English  sceptic, 
to  an  Arab  chief,  ''how  do  you  know  there  is 
a  God?"  The 'child  of  the  desert,  astonished, 
answered:  "Does  the  sun  want  light  to  show 
himself?" 

The  opposition  of  China  and  Japan  to  our 
missionaries ;    the   persecutions    of    Kome,  and 


FIRST    CONFERENCE.  21 

Greece,  and  Persia,  and  of  all  uncliristianized 
nations,  wliicli  deluged  tlie  world  with  the 
blood  of  Christian  people,  had  no  other 
grounds,  and  claimed  no  other,  than  that  Ca- 
tholicity was  impious,  opposed  to  the  worship 
of  the  gods,  and  that  it  denied  religion. 

The  universal  consent  of  all  nations  on  any 
given  i^oint  is  conceded  to  be  the  voice  of  na- 
ture and  the  demonstmtion  of  truth.  This  uni- 
versal persuasion,  anterior  to  all  reflection,  un- 
deniably establishes  the  existence  of  the  one 
great  and  merciful  God  revealing  Himself  to 
every  child  of  Adam  and  enllcjldening  every 
man  that  cometh  into  this  world  (John  i.) 

In  the  lapse  of  time,  and  as  our  ancestors 
removed  further  away  from  the  fountain  of 
original  truth  and  teachings,  the  notions  of  the 
people  became  less  distinct  and  their  ideas  be- 
gan to  differ  in  regard  to  the  nature  and  at- 
tributes of  God.  But  they  were  nevertheless 
in  accord  on  one  point — His  existence — and  it 
is  in  proof  of  this  that  I  invoke  their  univer- 
sal assent. 

Blinded  by  their  j)assions  or  seduced  by  a 
false  literature,  I  know  not  which,  some  des- 
perate men,  to  the  horror  of  tlie  world,  have 
made  profession  of  this  vast  impiety — though, 
thank    God !    little    known    in    America — with 


22  THE  BLESSED  TRIKITY. 

what  degree  of  sincerity  I  know  not ;  but  tlieir 
acts  refute  tlieir  notions.  They  profess  honor, 
justice,  truth,  all  virtues,  and  affect  to  keep 
God's  laws  while  denying  that  there  is  a 
Gfod !  Free-thinkers  are  generally  free-livers, 
and,  if  I  may  say  so,  free-lovers.  They  are 
like  the  persecutors  of  the  Church :  their  last 
end  is  frightful — like  beacon-lights  warning  the 
world  that  their  approach  is  dangerous  and 
their  contact  death.  We  are  all  very  brave 
until  we  are  tried.  Adversity  is  the  test  of 
sincerity.  In  the  sorrows  which  come  to  us 
all,  and  at  the  dread  moment  of  death,  they 
call  on  God  sincerely,  whom  they  despised 
in  their  prosperity  and  in  the  sunshine  of  His 
favors.  Some,  like  the  philosopher  of  Ferney, 
gather  the  shattered  strength  of  the  spirit  into 
one  wild  and  desperate  effort,  curse,  and  die  ! 

Holy  Writ  declares  tliat  the  lieavens  sliow 
forth  the  glory  of  God^  and  the  firmament  de- 
clareth  the  work  of  His  hands  (Ps.  xviii.  1).  In 
the  shining  pages  of  this  golden  book  all  man- 
kind— the  saint  and  the  sinner,  the  savage  and 
the  sage — may  read  as  they  run  the  existence 
of  the  Creator  and  many  of  His  perfections. 
An  admirable  plan,  a  harmony,  and  an  order 
prevail  throughout,  adapting  with  ineffable  fit- 
ness  the    means   to  their  proper  end  and  pur- 


laiCM    CONFERENCE.  23 

pose,  and  displaying  infinite  wisdom.  Who 
that  has  any  claim  to  common  sense  will  as- 
sert that  there  can  be  an  effect  without  a  cause, 
or  that  nothing  can  produce  something? 

If  such  a  person  has  not  quite  lost  his  senses 
I  call  his  attention  to  a  watch  and  to  its  com- 
plicated workmanship,  and  to  the  fact  that  each 
separate  piece  performs  a  distinct  function,  and 
that  all  combine  to  produce  the  desired  effect 
— that  is,  to  tell  the  daily  hours,  minutes,  and 
seconds.  He  admits  it  is  remarkable,  but — it 
happens  by  chance. 

I  accomx)aiiy  him  to  St.  Peter's  in  Rome, 
*'sole  temple  worthy  of  God";  its  dimensions, 
its  ornaments,  the  plan  and  the  materials,  like 
the  x)yramid  of  Cheops,  are  the  wonder  of  the 
world.  He  tells  me  it  all  happened  by  chance ! 
I  now  inform  him  that  the  world  is  spherical  and 
many  thousand  miles  in  circumference  ;  that  it 
has  two  motions — one  the  diurnal,  by  which  it 
revolves  on  its  axis  a  thousand  miles  an  hour 
in  an  easterly  direction,  causing  the  wonderful 
succession  of  day  and  night ;  the  other  its  an- 
nual motion  in  its  orbit  round  the  sun,  in 
which  it  speeds  with  a  velocity  of  sixty- eight 
thousand  miles  an  hour,  producing  the  won- 
derful variety  of  seasons,  making  the  earth 
the    vestibule    of    heaven  were  it  not  for  our 


24  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

sins.  I  prove  to  Mm  that  this  motion  is  so 
uniform  that  from  the  day  of  creation  until 
now  there  has  not  been  one  moment's  differ- 
ence in  the  length  of  the  days  and  the  years. 
Well,  it  all  happened  by  chance !  Merciful 
God,  how  less  than  human  are  all  who  for- 
sake thee !  Such,  you  reply,  is  the  extreme  of 
folly ;  the  watch  must  have  had  a  maker,  St. 
Peter's  an  architect,  and  the  world  a  creator. 

The  goodness,  power,  and  wisdom  of  our  gra- 
cious God  are  everywhere  conspicuous.  We 
ought  to  be  grateful  to  Him,  for  He  has  given 
us  our  being  and  all  this  fair  creation  as  our 
own  to  enjoy  and  possess.  He  has  bestowed  up- 
on us  a  body  and  soul ;  He  has  given  us  eyes 
to  see,  ears  to  hear,  hands  to  labor,  feet  to  walk, 
a  tongue  to  speak,  a  heart  to  feel.  He  made 
the  sun  to  give  us  light  by  day,  the  moon 
and  the  stars  by  night,  the  yearly  harvest  to 
bring  forth  every  variety  of  fruit  pleasing  to 
the  eye  and  pleasant  to  the  taste.  He  has 
created  all  things  for  the  preservation  and  hap- 
piness of  His  children.  We  cannot  name  the 
thing  bright  and  good  within  us,  nor  delect- 
able and  attractive  without,  but  it  came  from 
our  benignant  Creator.  Cold  and  less  than  hu- 
man, then,  must  the  heart  be  that  will  not 
glow  with  love  and  gratitude  towards  Him. 


FIKST   CONFER KNCE.  25 

Throughout  the  vast  expanse  of  the  universe 
there  is  not  an  objecf,  not  an  atom,  that  does 
not  wear  tlie  imprint,  the  seal  and  signet,  of  an 
all- wise  Intelligence.  The  humblest  flower  of 
the  vale,  the  meekest  shrub  by  brook  or 
fountain,  the  tiniest  insect,  the  beasts  of  the 
field,  the  birds  of  the  air,  the  fish  of  the  sea — 
land,  sea,  and  sky  themselves — everything,  great 
and  small,  bears  the  same  inefl'aceable  trace  of 
their  Maker  and  of  the  Triune  God. 

Everything  is  in  an  incessant  motion.  It  is 
like  a  universal  soul  of  creation  and  could 
proceed  but  from  an  infinitely  wise  and  omni- 
potent cause.  This  is  one  of  the  powerful  ar- 
guments of  St.  Thomas  in  proof  of  the  divine 
existence. 

I  speak  not  of  the  lesser  motions  of  men 
and  animals,  nor  of  those  produced  by  them 
or  by  secondary  causes,  but  of  the  mysterious 
motion  of  the  earth  round  its  axis  and  in  its 
orbit,  of  the  whole  planetary  system,  of  the 
ponderous  orbs  in  the  nightly  heavens,  of  the 
motion  of  the  entire  universe  round  some  un- 
known centre  in  the  realms  of  space,  perhaps 
the  very  throne  of  God,  before  which  all  the 
sanctities  of  heaven  stand  in  profound  adora- 
tion. All  things  set  in  towards  Him  in  an  ir- 
resistible  tide.      The  earth,    the    solar   system. 


o 


26  THE   BLESSED   TRINITY. 

all  matter,  is  essentially  inert,  and  would  for 
ever  remain  so  were  they  not  impelled  into  mo  - 
tion  by  an  external  and  co-efficient  cause,  who 
can  only  be  the  Lord  of  the  universe.  Himself 
immutable  and  external.  He  measured  the  wa- 
ters in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,  and  loeighed 
the  mountains  in  scales,  and  with  three  fingers 
poised  the  hulk  of  the  earth  (Isa.  xl.) 

The  creation  of  man  undoubtedly  establishes 
the  same  fact.  He  did  not  always  live  on 
earth.  The  annals  of  time  and  all  historical 
monuments  give  him  a  duration  not  more  re- 
mote than  nearly  six  thousand  years.  Fossil 
remains  lead  to  the  same  conclusion.  Man 
could  not  have  existed  from  eternity,  for  the 
world  itself  is  not  eternal.  If  he  has  always 
lived  how  has  it  happened  that,  with  all  his 
skill,  energy,  and  restless  ambition,  he  has 
left  no  trace,  no  monument  of  His  labors  of  a 
greater  age  than  that  I  have  indicated? 

An  infinite  succession  of  created  beings  is 
an  absurdity,  like  the  theories  of  atoms  and 
numbers.  The  number  of  the  links  in  such  a 
succession  must  be  infinite  and  at  the  same 
time  limited — infinite  in  the  supposition  of  an 
eternal  succession,  and  yet  not  so  because  of 
its  daily  increment.  JN'umbers  can  add  nothing 
to    infinity,    for   infinity  contains   all   in  itself. 


FIRST  CONFEIIENCE.  27 

Atoms  also  are  an  absurdity ;  tliey  sliould 
have  created  themselves,  or  have  acted  before 
they  existed,  which  would  of  course  be  a  little 
too  soon. 

Man,  then,  having  a  beginning,  could  be  made 
only  by  the  Almighty,  who  fashioned  him  to 
His  own  image  and  likeness.  He  is  like  God 
in  being  a  spirit  and  immortal  as  to  his  soul, 
and  in  being  capable  of  knowing  and  Joving 
Him.  Taking  pity  on  us,  God  called  us  from 
nothing  in  preference  to  others  who  are  in 
the  abyss  of  the  divine  possibility.  Our  like- 
ness lived  in  His  mind  from  eternity.  All  we 
are  or  have  is  His ;  our  creation  is  our  share 
in  His  infinite  goodness.  Surely  we  should 
adore,  love,  and  serve  Him. 

Reason  is  a  ray  of  the  divine  mind  and  gen- 
erally reliable  within  its  own  legitimate  pro- 
vince— the  natural  order.  Its  j^owers  are  amaz- 
ing, and  man  is  overwhelmed  at  its  varied  de- 
velopments. But  it  is  too  feeble  to  penetrate 
into  the  mysteries  of  God.  Yet  God  sheds  up- 
on it  the  brightness  of  His  light,  both  in  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testament,  and  their  com- 
bined splendors  lead  us  into  all  truth.  The 
full  deiDOsit  of  divine  revelation  is  preserved 
pure  and  unalterable  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  parts   of  it   are  contained  in   both    Testa- 


"28  THE   BLESSED    TRINITY. 

ments,  of  the  veracity,  integrity,  authenticity, 
and  inspiration  of  which  she  is  tlie  infallible 
and  living  witness.  She  makes  God  more  clear- 
ly known  than  does  nnaided  human  reason. 
He  came  visibly  into  this  Avorld  and  spoke  to 
the  human  race  face  to  face.  The  powers  of 
the  heavens  are  amazed  and  all  rational  beings 
astonished  at  His  infinite  condescension ;  His 
excessive  goodness  is  even  a  temptation.  He 
has  spoken,  not  merely  by  an  angel,  a  prophet, 
or  celestial  envoy,  but  in  His  own  person  :  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  each  has 
conversed  with  us  here  on  earth.  God  has  even 
become  man  and  lias  assumed  our  very  nature. 
After  the  dispersion  of  the  race  of  Adam 
from  the  i:)lains  of  Sennaar  men  ignored  the 
unity  of  God  and  fell  into  idolatry.  They  wor- 
shipped a  plurality  of  gods.  They  were  igno- 
rant of  His  nature  and  attributes  ;  they  idol- 
ized themselves  and  everything  else  excej)t  tlie 
one  true  God.  Even  sins  had  statues  and  were 
publicly  adored  with  incense  and  sncrifice,  as 
they  are  to-day,  in  heart,  by  millions  of  civil- 
ized people.  Ambition,  gold  and  lust,  and  all 
other  vices  are  still  the  popular  divinities. 
Darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  passed  over 
the  world  like  a  shoreless  ocean.  Yet  all  be- 
lieved in    God  without   being  able  to  tell   wlio 


FIRST   CONFKIIENCK.  29 

or  what  He  was,  remarked  one  of  their  sages. 
The  men  renowned  for  learning  in  these  an- 
cient times  established  an  independent  First 
Cause,  cold  and  indifferent  to  His  works  and 
as  unsymi)athetic  as  Athos  or  Atlas. 

A  new  light  bursts  through  the  universal 
gloom.  "Let  all  nations  rejoice,  let  the  hills 
and  mountains,  let  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  re- 
joice; let  all  beasts  and  cattle  and  all  things  be 
exceeding  glad ;  for  the  Lord  has  visited  the 
earth,  and  His  children  shall  no  more  abide  in 
darkness  nor  pine  beneath  the  cold  shades  of 
death." 

Our  rehitions  are  ex2)kuned.  The  Almiglity 
is  our  Father  and  we  are  His  chiklren.  All  pa- 
ternities combined  cannot  equal  His  love  for 
His  every  child.  He  is  our  friend — the  only 
friend  we  have  on  earth ;  our  lover— all  other 
loves  are  but  a  fancy  ;  He  is  our  Creator,  and 
that  implies  all.  We  can  converse  with  Him 
and  are  united  with  Him  by  faith,  hope,  and 
charity. 

In  the  book  of  Genesis,  the  first  annals  of 
time,  we  read  that  God  created  heaven  and 
earth  for  man's  use  and  benefit;  that  He  fash- 
ioned man's  body  frojn  the  slime  of  the  earth 
and  breathed  into  him  an  immortal  soul,  a 
spark  of   Hi^   own  being,  one   of   His   own  im- 


30  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

perishable  tliouglits,  and  made  Mm  the  lord  of 
creation — of  the  birds  of  the  air,  the  beasts  of 
the  field,  the  fishes  of  the  sea.  All  things  were 
made  subject  to  man,  and  he  was  subject  to 
God  only.  How  noble  is  man's  origin,  how 
more  than  regal,  how  God-like  !  He  is  a  su- 
pernatural being,  who  believes  in  God,  adores 
Him,  trusts  in  Him,  and  loves  Him. 

In  after- times    God  makes    an  alliance  with 
Abraham,  one  of  our  race,  and  promises  that  his 
offspring  shall  outnumber  the  stars  of  heaven, 
on  one  condition — that  they  believe  in  Him  and 
keep  His  commandments.      The  covenant  is  re- 
newed to  Isaac  and  to  Jacob.     This  knowledge 
of  the  one  true  God  was  never  lost  among  this 
people.      When  about    to    be  gathered   to   his 
fathers  the  dying  patriarch  Jacob  -imparted  a 
prophetic   blessing  on    each    of  his   sons,    and 
spake  in  this    manner    to    Juda:     Juda^    thee 
sliall  thy  hreiJiren  praise  ;  the  sceptre  shall  not 
be   taken  away  from  Juda^    nor  a  ruler  from 
Ms    thigh,    till  He  come   that  is   to    he   sent, 
and  He  shall   he   the   expectation   of  nations 
(Gen.  xlix.  10).     This  faith  never  perislied,  but 
always    lived  with   the   Jews,    whether   in    the 
brick-fields  of  Egyi)t,  on  the  burning  sands  of 
the  desert,  under  the  impious  kings,  under  the 
harsh  schism  of  Samaria,  in  x^roud  Babylon  or 


FIRST  CONFERENCE.  31 

in  gorgeous  Niiiive.  It  outlived  the  liot  persecu- 
tions of  the  Syrian  monarchs,  and  remained  pure 
until  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world. 


II. 


In  the  desert  Moses  is  commissioned  from  on 
liigh  to  conduct  the  children  of  Israel  from  the 
slavery  of  Egypt  to  the  land  of  jiromise,  and  that 
l)assage  from  Egypt  to  the  land  of  promise  is  a 
type  and  a  prox)hecy  of  our  present  condition  and 
our  future  hopes.  The  meek  son  of  Amram  ask- 
ed God  His  name,  and  He  answered  (Exod.  iii., 
rtc.) :  **I  AM  WHO  AM.  Thus  shalt  thou  say  to 
the  children  of  Israel :  He  who  is  hath  sent 
me  to  you."  And  Moses  was  commissioned  to 
tell  his  people :  Thou  shalt  have  no  strange 
gods  before  me ;  thou  shalt  not  take  the 
name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain ;  remem- 
ber to  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day  ;  honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother  ;  thou  shalt  not  kill ; 
thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery ;  thou  shalt 
not  steal ;  thou  slialt  not  lie ;  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbor's  wife;  thou  shalt  not  covet 
thy  neighbor's  goods. 

Three  thousand  years  have  elapsed  since  God 
gave  these  commandments  to  mankind  through 
the  ministry  of  Moses,  and  they  remain   unal- 


32  THE   BLESSED  TRINITY. 

tered  to  tlie  present  day ;  tliey  never  will  be 
changed,  for  tliey  are  founded  on  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Creator  to  His  rational  creature — 
man.  They  are  superior  to  every  other  code  in 
wisdom  and  sanctity.  In  a  merely  human  sense 
they  have  made  Moses  superior  to  Solon,  to 
Lycurgus,  and  to  all  other  legislators,  and  the 
Jewish  nation  greater  in  wisdom  and  know- 
ledge than  all  the  sages  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

The  philosophers  believed  in  God,  but  they 
could  not  tell  who  or  what  He  was  nor  how 
He  must  be  worshipped  ;  they  were  ignorant  of 
His  nature  and  attributes.  Now  Moses  said  : 
Hear^  0  Israel !  the  Lord  thy  God  is  one  Lord ; 
thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole 
heart  and  lolth  thy  lohole  soul,  with  thy  whole 
strength  (Deut.)  In  the  Psalms  especially  does 
God  manifest  Himself  more  openly  and  plainly  ; 
His  inward  life  is  disclosed.  His  precepts  arid 
our  obligations  inculcated  ;  His  name  is  in  every 
verse,  implicitly  or  expressly  ;  the  prayers  are 
expressive  of  every  sentiment  of  piety  and  devo- 
tion that  can  animate  the  heart  of  man.  The 
first  Psalm  declares  him  blessed  who  fears  the 
Lord,  and  the  last  invites  all  nations  to  praise 
and  bless  His  holy  name. 

As    in  nature   everything    has    a    tongue    to 
speak  of  God,  so  also  in  Holy 'Writ,  but  more 


FIRST  CONFERENCE.  33 

distinctly.  There  is  not  a  verse,  nor  an  event, 
nor  a  miracle,  nor  a  prophecy  in  the  Bible  which 
does  not  prove  His  all-holy  being,  directly  or 
indirectly.  The  Old  Testament  is  the  piT)phecy 
of  the  New.  All  its  contents  wear  their  face 
to  the  dawn  and  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Justice. 
Many  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  Isaias 
foretold  that  Jerusalem  would  be  enlightened 
\\  ith  a  great  light ;  that  all  nations  would  come 
from  afar  to  unite  themselves  with  Israel.  The 
inhabit«.nts  of  Madian  would  come  with  camels, 
and  those  of  Saba  would  bring  their  gold  and  in- 
cense. All  the  nations  of  the  earth  would  unite 
as  one  in  paying  homage  to  Emmanuel— God 
in  human  flesh.  Zacharias,  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  announces  that  God  Jias  visited  the  earthy 
the  Orient  from  on  high^  to  enlighten  those  wlio 
sit  in  darJcness  and  in  the  shadow  of  death.  St. 
John  the  Baptist,  this  voice  crying  in  the  wil- 
derness, declares  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan 
that  he  is  not  himself  the  Light,  but  the  wit- 
ness thereof,  to  bear  testimony  that  there  stands 
in  their  midst  the  One  who  enlightens  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world. 

Christ  appears  after  having  been  announced 
for  four  thousand  years  by  an  unbroken  line 
of  prophets,  expected  by  all  the  just,  prefigur- 
ed by  all  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  typified  by 

3 


34  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

all  the  sacrifices  of  tlie  true  religion.  All  na- 
tions longed  for  Him,  all  ages  siglied  for  Him. 
The  prophets  of  the  gentiles  gazed  from  afar 
on  the  star  of  Jacob,  and  the  oracles  of  the 
idols  at  Delphi  and  at  the  fountains  of  Egeria 
proclaimed  His  advent.  He  was  hailed  as  the 
legislator  of  all  ages,  the  light  of  all  nations, 
and  the  salvation  of  the  universe. 

His  every  word  and  act,  the  manner  of  His 
birth,  its  circumstances,  all  the  events  of  His 
life,  Thabor  and  Calvary,  the  sepulchre  and 
Olivet,  proved  Him  to  be  Grod.  His  is  the  name 
of  essence,  I  am.  His  is  identity  of  nature  and 
works  with  the  Father,  for  tlie  Father  and  He 
are  one  and  the  same  God.  He  is  the  supreme 
Lord  of  the  living  and  the  dead. 

He  delivers  an  oracle  which  none  before  nor 
since  could  utter  :  /  am  the  light  of  tlie 
world;  he  who  followeth  me  loalketh  not  in 
darJcness.  He  spake  in  this  manner  because, 
outside  of  Jerusalem,  all  the  world  was  buried 
in  darkness  and  vice.  It  was  the  Augustan 
age,  the  golden  age  of  learning,  science,  and 
art.  Eeason  had  achieved  its  greatest  victo- 
ries ;  sculpture,  painting,  architecture,  oratory, 
poetry— all  sciences  and  arts,  had  unveiled 
their  splendors  and  irradiated  the  known 
world    from    pole  to    pole.     Yet    never  before 


FIRST   CONFERENCE.  35 

had  mankind  been  so  corrupt.  Virtue  was  only 
a  name  and  a  sliame.  Every  degrading  vice 
was  worsliijiped  as  a  god.  Every  species  of 
vice  was  attributed  to  the  ever-blessed  Sanc- 
tity of  heaven.  While  God's  existence  Avas 
acknowledged  His  nature,  His  perfections,  and 
His  name  were  unknown.  His  discij^les  for 
tliree  centuries,  and  up  to  this  day  in  pa- 
gan countries,  were  tortured  to  death. 

Now,  as  formerly,  human  learning  does  not 
render  men  good  and  virtuous.  AVithout  God 
it  only  seiTes  to  make  men  slaves  to  error 
and  to  refine  and  intensify  their  passions. 
One  of  those  ancient  sages  i^emarked  that  so 
deplorable  was  the  moral  condition  of  the 
world  that  God  Himself  must  needs  come  and 
redress  it  or  it  must  perish.  Justly,  then,  did 
God  say,  /  am  the  light  of  the  world ;  and 
in  his  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  St.  Paul 
styles  the  believers  children  of  light. 

Standing  before  the  august  council  of  the 
Areopagus,  the  Aj^ostle  of  the  Gentiles  an- 
nounces the  most  startling  truth  that  ever  fell 
on  their  ears:  "Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive 
that  in  all  things  you  are  too  superstitious. 
For  passing  by*  and  seeing  your  idols,  I  found 
an  altar  on  which  was  written.  To  the  uiiknoion 
God,      What  therefore    you    worshii),   without 


36  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

knowing  it,  tliat  I  preach  to  you  :  God,  who 
made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  seeing 
He  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth.  ...  It  is  He 
who  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath,  and  all 
things.  ...  In  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and 
are ;  as  some  also  of  your  own  X)oets  said  :  For 
loe  are  also  His  offspring,^"^ 

The  apostles  are  sent  to  announce  the  gospel 
of  truth,  the  full-orbed  revelation,  to  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  And  their  teachings  are 
perpetuated  in  the  Catholic  Church,  the  infal- 
lible and  divinely  constituted  organ  of  all 
truth,  co-extensive  with  the  universe,  which  will 
last  to  the  end  of  the  world.  The  Church  is 
tlie  living  witness  of  the  existence  of  her 
divine  Founder,  the  one  true  God,  and  of  all 
His  perfections.  He  who  knowingly  rejects  her 
doctrines  will  be  lost.  He  wi.o  does  not  be- 
lieve her  would  not  believe  one  from  the  dead. 
Endure  she  must  while  virtue  is  an  obligation, 
while  a  soul  is  to  be  saved,  and  while  God 
is  to  be  honored  and  believed  on  earth.  Her 
earthly  reign  will  only  terminate  when  the 
myriads  who  slumber  in  the  dust,  clothed  in 
their  proper  flesh,  shall  stand  before  the  tri- 
bunal of  Jesus  Christ  to  receive  every  one 
according  to  his  works. 

Countless    hosts    of  all    nations  and  tongues 


FiiiST  conferp:nce.  87 

adore  in  spirit  and  in  trnth  the  one  true  God. 
Zealous  missionary  bislioi^s  and  priests  carry 
His  name  to  distant  sliores  and  reclaim  their 
less  favored  inhabitants  from  idolatry  and  con- 
sequent vice,  and  bring  them  into  this  admi- 
rable liglit.  Holy  pontiffs,  religious  men  and 
women  innumerable,  form  the  tenor  of  their 
actions  and  lives  according  to  the  maxims  of 
the  Uncreated  Truth  ;  millions  of  martyrs  have 
died  to  witness  it,  and  almost  all  the  great 
and  learned  of  ancient  and  Christian  times 
have  illustrated  it  by  their  wiitings. 

Every  truth  is  one  in  itself  and  also  in  the 
relation  it  holds  towards  all  others  pertaining 
to  the  system  to  which  it  belongs,  whether  in 
the  material,  the  intellectual,  or  the  superna- 
tural kingdom.  They  all  emanate  from  God, 
who  is  truth  essential,  embracing  them  in  an 
admirable  simplicity. 

As  God  is  necessarily  His  own  end  in  all 
His  works,  in  like  manner  is  He  His  own 
type  and  model.  The  more  perfect  the  work 
the  closer  the  resemblance.  Tlie  soul  is  more 
like  God  than  the  body,  and  the  Church  than 
material  creation,  its  groundwork.  The  es- 
sential marks  of  the  Church,  her  doctrines 
and  mysteries,  are  combined  in  an  admirable 
unity  and  under  one  head,  like  the  perfections 


38  THE    IJLESSED   TRINITY. 

in  the  divine  simplicity.  All  our  Lord's  works 
expressed  this  similitude  to  His  attributes. 
The  manner  in  which  He  came  and  dwelt 
amongst  us  is  like  unto  His  unknown  life, 
which  fills  us  with  awe  and  wonder.  Without 
a  revelation  an  archangel  even  could  not  im- 
agine that  the  full  face  of  God  would  be 
turned  to  the  world,  not  from  Sinai  but  from 
the  cross  and  between  two  thieves,  in  the  midst 
of  a  reviling  mob.  Always  like  Himself,  as 
at  the  beginning  so  now  also  it  is  from  dark- 
ness that  light  is  called  to  illumine  the  moral 
waste. 

In  its  nature  every  sin  is  a  rebellion,  high 
treason,  and  an  attempt  against  God's  exist- 
ence ;  though  it  be  not  formal  atheism,  it  im- 
plies atheism.  Hence  sinners  are  styled  the 
ungodly. 

In  modern  society  there  are  found  three 
classes  of  infidels  or  atheists,  and  their  num- 
ber is  alarming.  The  first  are  the  free-think- 
ers, who,  while  retaining  the  name  of  God,  like 
the  heathens  of  old,  deny  His  nature  and  His 
divine  perfections.  Pantheists  are  prominent 
under  this  disastrous  classification.  Their  God 
is  a  grand  total,  not  perfect  but  in  progress  ; 
not  a  person,  for  he  is  not  conscious  and.  knows 
himself  but  in  the  fragment  of  humanity ;  not 


FIRST  CONFERENCE.  39 

a  love,  but  blindly  impelled  by  the  laws  of 
nature  ;  without  will,  liberty,  or  unlimited  in- 
tellect— the  God  of  the  Stoics. 
•  The  second  class  embraces  all  the  atheists, 
wlio  deny  God  in  His  images  and  in  the  per- 
sons and  things  that  specially  represent  Him 
— all  who  are  averse  to  religion ;  and  their 
number  is  vast.  God  came  in  human  flesh  ; 
they  reject  liim.  God  is  in  His  Church,  which 
is  the  tabernacle  of  the  Real  Presence,  the  or- 
gan of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  witness  of  all 
truth.  God  is  in  the  poj)e,  who  is  the  suc- 
cessor of  St.  Peter,  the  visible  head  of  the 
Church,  the  vicar  of  Christ,  the  witness  and 
the  infallible  assertion  of  God.  The  war  of 
nearly  all  nations  to-day  is  universal  and  des- 
perate against  the  Church,  against  the  Lord 
and  His  anointed.  Governments  nominally  Ca- 
tholic persecute  Catholicity  intensely  with  Sa- 
tanic hatred,  and  her  august  head  has  not  a 
spot  on  earth  on  which  he  may  rest.  God  is 
in  man,  because  man  is  made  to  God's  image 
and  likeness  and  bears  on  his  brow  the  light 
of  God's  face  (Ps.  iv.  7).  Schools  of  modern 
philosophy  in  the  most  civilized  communities 
have  sacrilegiously  torn  the  diadem  of  immor- 
tality from  man's  head  and  they  style  him  an 
improved  specimen  of  a  brute.    How  true  is  the 


40  THE   BLESSED   TKINITY. 

word  of  God  !  When,  in  opposition  to  tlie  di- 
vine mandate,  man  makes  to  himself  a  false 
God,  like  Satan  or  Nabuchodonosor,  he  be- 
comes like  unto  the  works  of  his  hands,  a  sense- 
less animal  (Ps.  cxiii.  16).  God  is  in  His  priests, 
in  the  religious  orders,  and  in  the  religions  life. 
Who  are  more  despised  and  depreciated?  God 
is  in  His  word,  in  the  faith,  and  in  all  virtues  : 
And  tlie  Word  teas  God.  This,  it  is  true,  is  all 
denied  ;  people  may  now  become  saints  without 
the  grace  of  God  and  contrary  to  the  model  of 
Jesus  Christ,  in  despite  of  Him  and  without  His 
grace.  God  is  in  the  marriage  bond,  tlie  foun- 
tain of  the  human  race,  whose  waters  must  be 
preserved  pure  and  limpid.  But  this  tie  is  now 
a  TQ-pe  of  sand.  God  is  in  civilization.  Now, 
these  insane  enemies  of  all  truth  assert  that 
civilization  is  merely  a  natural  evolution  of 
progress  ;  and  they  teach,  at  the  end  of  nine- 
teen centuries  enlightened  by  our  Lord,  that 
our  Lord  is  an  obstacle  and  must  needs  be 
removed. 

These  pestilential  teachings  are  spread  far 
and  Avide ;  they  are  the  natural  result  of  here- 
sies, and  they  have  poisoned  all  the  fountains 
of  education,  have  banished  God  from  the  do- 
main of  science,  and  have  caused  countless 
numbers  to  suffer  shipwreck  of  their  faith. 


FIRST   CONFERENCE.  41 

Tlie  third  class  embraces  the  practical  athe- 
ists—those who  believe  in  God,  but  deny  Him 
in  act  and  violate  His  commandments.  They 
are  innumerable  and  are  in  all  professions  and 
denominations.  Temptations  are  strong  and  va- 
ried ;  we  have  free-will,  and  nature  is  frail.  But 
there  are  crimes  of  great  malignity  which  shock 
and  terrify  society — such,  for  example,  as  when 
a  priest  falls  or  becomes  ''an  atheist  at  the 
altar  of  God."  Without  being  intended  for 
a  formal  denial  of  the  existence  of  God,  all 
sins  naturally  tend  to  this  frightful  abj^ss,  for 
after  the  first  step  from  the  path  of  rectitude, 
without  speedy  repentance,  no  man  can  tell 
where  the  end  will  be. 

With  evidences  so  convincing,  it  is  asked, 
how  it  is  possible  for  a  sane  person  to  doubt 
the  existence  of  God,  who  is  the  necessary  ob- 
ject of  the  mind,  as  light  is  of  the  eye  ? 
Without  contact  with  Him  man's  mind  could 
no  more  conceive  a  thought  than  his  hand 
could  create  a  world.  First,  because  they  do 
not  wish  to  believe  and  every  man  can  reject 
the  grace  of  faith.  True  belief  in  the  existence 
of  God  is  not  derived  from  human  learning 
nor  from  philosophy  ;  otherwise  all  the  re- 
nowned scholars  of  ancient  and  modern  times 
would  have  been  Catholic. 


42  THE   BLESSED    TRIXITY. 

The  lieart  is  the  nearest  road  to  heaven. 
Blessed  are  the  clean  of  hearty  for  they  shall 
see  God  (Matt.  v.  8).  When  the  will  refuses  its 
assent  the  nnderstanding  cannot  perfect  its 
act ;  yet  faith  is  the  result,  with  the  assistance 
of  grace,  of  the  combined  co-operation  of  both 
faculties.  There  can,  it  is  true,  be  a  sterile  and 
abstract  conviction,  for  conviction  does  not  ne- 
cessarily induce  practice  ;  if  it  did  nearly  all 
men  would  be  virtuous. 

Secondly,  truth  and  error,  or  virtue  and  vice, 
which  are    synonymous  for  affirmation  and  ne- 
gation,   are   the  two   extremes   of    human  life ; 
the  perilous  choice  comes  daily  to   every  man, 
and,  by  a  law  of  his  nature,   he  is  necessitat- 
ed to  make  it.     The  just  choose  the  real,  the 
substantial,    the  true,   which  unite  them  more 
closely  to  Gfod.     The  unjust  j)ursue  an  opposite 
course :  they  make  choice  of  avarice,  sensuality, 
or  other  passion,  which  they  make  their  god. 
It  is  a  new  phase  of  old  paganism.     In  all  this 
there   is   nothing   real,   for  every   sin  is    a  lie. 
Habituated  to  x:>refer  the  unreal,  the  false,  and 
the  things  that  are  not,   to  the  real  and  true, 
selfishness  is   their  idol,   and  they   end  in   be- 
lieving   nothing.     Faith    and  morals  go   hand- 
in-hand  and  sustain  one  another. 
In  this  country  the  denial  of  God  is  seldom 


B^IRST  CONFERKNCE.  43 

formal.  But  tliougli  possessing  many  social 
qualities,  the  masses  of  the  people  are  grow- 
ing more  indifferent,  and  they  seldom  give  God, 
their  salvation,  or  the  future  a  serious  thought. 
They  conform  to  some  easy  form  of  public 
worship  which  imposes  no  real  obligation. 
Their  state  is  one  rather  of  a  good-natured  re- 
ligious indifference  than  of  direct  negation  of 
tlie  Almighty  God. 

Thirdly,  atheism  is  formally  professed  by 
some  unhappy  peox)le  in  other  countries  under 
the  name  of  Nihilism.  As  vice  is  the  result 
of  perverting  the  will  against  the  laws  of  mo- 
rals. Nihilism  consists  in  turning  reason  against 
itself,  perverts  its  laws,  and  pretends  that  No- 
thing is  the  principle  and  cause  of  all  things ! 

The  perfections  of  all  creatures  can  come 
from  their  Creator  only.  By  overstepping 
tlieir  limits  and  extending  tliem  to  the  infi- 
nite we  obtain  an  invincible  proof  of  the  ex- 
istence of  God.  The  Nihilists  reverse  the  pro- 
cess ;  they  deny  the  perfection,  push  the  nega- 
tion  to  the  infinite,  and  proclaim  that  there 
rxists  an  absolute  nothing!  This  process  fur- 
nishes us  with  an  astonishing  result.  Philo- 
sophically considered,  the  theory  of  atheism  is 
in  si)ite  of  itself  a  vigorous  and  unassailable 
proof,   backward   or  by  the  reverse   course,  of 


44  THE    BLESSED   TRINITY. 

tlie  existence  of  God,  showing  that  the  denial  of 
God's  existence  leads  to  an  absukdity.  This 
is  as  it  slioLild  be;  the  common  sense  of  the 
human  race,  the  reasoning  of  thousands  of 
years,  as  well  as  revelation,  prove  that  God 
exists.  Unless  right  reason  stultifies  itself, 
right  reason  must  show  the  absurdity  of  the 
theory  that  denies  it. 

These  unhappy  atheists  push  their  insane  no- 
tion to  an  extreme  point,  and  maintain  that  the 
principle  of  contradiction  is  false,  which  means 
that  we  can  affirm  and  deny  the  pro  and  con, 
the  for  and  against,  of  everything,  at  the  same 
time  and  under  the  same  circumstances ;  ac- 
cording to  their  logic  it  would  be  true  to  say 
that  at  the  same  time  America  exists  and  does 
not  exist,  that  virtue  and  vice,  truth  and  false- 
hood, right  and  wrong,  are  all  merely  one  and 
the  same  thing. 

These  fallacies  are  as  old  as  the  hills ;  the 
East  is  rampant  with  them ;  Foe  is  their  ac- 
credited author.  The  sophists  of  Greece  adopt- 
ed them  ;  they  are  at  the  bottom  of  all  those 
Eastern  heresies  which  assailed  the  Church, 
and  which  were  chiefly  speculative  denials. 

But  these  fallacies  are  not  reasoning ;  they 
are  mere  soj^histry,  which  would  lead  us  to 
conclude    that  there  is  no   truth  because  there 


•     FIRST  CONFERENCE.  45 

are  untruths ;  tliat  there  is  no  certainty  be- 
cause tliere  are  cases  of  doubt ;  that  we  know 
nothing  because  there  is  some  knowledge  be- 
yond our  reach  ;  and  that  we  should  make  no 
effort  because  we  are  not  omnipotent.  This 
soi^histry  leads  its  votaries  astmy  from  the 
l)lain  x^ath  of  truth,  bewilders  them  in  a 
labyrinth  of  error,  and  then  sneers  at  their 
baffled  efforts  to  extricate  themselves.  Sound 
philosophy,  on  the  other  hand,  lays  down 
lirm  2^ remises,  concedes  truths  and  axioms,  and 
draws  the  irresistible  conclusion,  leading  in  a 
way  in  which  even  fools  cannot  err. 

*' Philosophy  and  sophistry,"  remarks  Pla- 
to, *'go  in  opposite  directions:  one  towards 
being,  and  the  other  towards  nothing.  And 
while  philosophy  is  flooded  with  tlie  brilliancy 
of  the  light  of  its  object,  sophistry  is  blinded 
by  its  own." 

The  Holy  Ghost  assures  us  that  a  man  is 
punished  in  the  things  in  which  he  sins.  The 
grace  which  he  rejects  is  often  withdrawn  and 
given  to  others.  This  fact  is  illustrated  in  the 
history  of  individuals  and  nations. 

All  the  East,  the  cradle-land  of  the  Gospel, 
and  many  parts  of  central  and  western  Eu- 
rope, rejected  God  and  His  Church.  They  are 
now   falling    rapidly    into    absolute    infidelity. 


46  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY.. 

Tlieir  material  prosperity,  their  progress,  and 
tlieir  literature  serve  but  to  blind  them  the 
more,  and  their  power  is  waning.  God  is  the 
end  of  His  works ;  the  w^orld  will  last  onlv 
while  it  adores  Him,  and  the  human  race 
while  it  continues  to  give  saints  for  heaven, 
and  no  longer.  Both  failing  in  these  respects, 
the  annals  of  time  close  and  the  end  comes. 

A  correct  idea  of  God  gives  the  proof  of  His 
existence  in  itself  and  in  His  works. 

Of  a  necessity  the  soul  seeks  being,  and  in 
it  tlie  Infinite.  Every  sight  and  sound  and 
contact  with  external  objects,  all  our  impres- 
sions, and  the  sensations  of  the  soul,  should 
elevate  us  to  God.  God  is  present  everywhere. 
He  is  really  and  substantially  in  every  being. 
I  touch  God  implicitly  and  mediately  when  I 
come  in  contact  with  any  body  whatever.  He 
also  co-operates  with  every  act  and  He  acts  at 
least  permissively  in  every  agent.  He  is  at  the 
root  of  every  thought  and  in  every  act  of  the 
will.  Light,  heat,  odors,  tastes,  attractions,  emo- 
tions, are  the  effects  of  the  omnipresent  Creator 
and  of  His  contact  with  all  bodies.  God  causes 
the  sun  to  give  us  light,  which  it  could  not 
do  without  His  impulse,  and  this  requires  His 
presence.  In  every  being  and  in  every  mo- 
tion God  is  present  as  the  efficient  prime  mo- 


FIRST   CONFEUENCE.  47 

five  1^0 wer.  When  we  receive  an  impression 
tliroiigh  an  object  it  comes  from  God  as  its 
l)rimary  cause.  If  we  possessed  sufficient  viva- 
city of  sentiment  and  emotion  the  soul  would 
with  the  speed  of  lightning  reach  God  and 
embrace  Him,  the  infinite  Power  which  it  dis- 
covers in  itself  and  in  all  things  besides,  and 
would  rest  contented  in  the  very  being  of  the 
Father  Almighty.  *'The  whole  world,"  said 
the  pagan  poet,  ^'is  tilled  with  God."  The 
saints  saw  God  in  everything,  and  the  sim- 
plest objects  threw  them  into  ecstasy.  Who, 
in  favored  moments,  has  not  felt  his  very  soul 
thrill  with  the  presence  of  God  through  the 
medium  of   surrounding  creatures? 

The  consideration  of  our  intimacy  -with  God 
cannot  fail  to  fill  the  soul  with  awe  and  love. 
It  is  in  Ilim,  indeed,  that  we  live;  all  our 
thoughts,  words,  and  actions  are  written  in  the 
book  of  life,  which  is  the  being  of  the  ever- 
lasting God  Himself.  The  blood  of  our  Lord 
will  wash  away  from  the  soul  of  the  penitent 
sinner  every  stain  of  sin  and  make  it  whiter  than 
now.  But  never  will  it  remove  the  remem- 
brance of  the  transgression  from  the  divine 
Mind  ;  that  remembrance  will  endure  after  Time 
itself  shall  have  spent  his  course.  Woe,  then, 
to  him  who  falls  unprepared  into  the  hands  of 


48  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

the  living  God  !  Better  for  liim  that  he  had 
never  been  born  than  have  lived  in  vain  and 
have  denied  the  Lord  who  made  him. 

The  prayer  rightly  offered,  the  temptation  re- 
sisted, the  injury  forgiven,  and  the  cross  meek- 
ly borne  are  facts  firm  as  the  throne  of  God, 
and  their  recompense  will  be  greater  than  their 
duration.  It  will  be  no  single  gift  or  attribute, 
but  God  whole  and  entire — God  possessed  and 
all  our  owm. 

Pride  can  never  learn  anything  about  God  ; 
on  the  contrary,  it  has  failed  in  all  its  efforts. 
Humble  prayer  is  the  universal  grace  of  all 
men,  and  it  will  surely  bring  conviction,  for  it 
is  the  seed  of  faith.  If  any  of  you  want  wis- 
dom let  Mm  asJc  of  God^  wlio  gimth  to  all 
abundantly  and  wpbraideth  not:  and  it  sTiall 
he  given  him  (James  i.  5). 

Every  relation  in  w^liich  the  divine  Majesty 
stands  towards  us  furnishes  constraining  mo- 
tives of  daily  beginning  love  and  service.  We 
have  duties  towards  Him,  towards  ourselves  and 
our  neighbor.  All  these  are  contained  in  the 
golden  precept,  which  is  of  universal  obligation 
— the  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbor. 

In  the  case  of  blameless  ignorance  salvation 
is  possible  beyond  the  visible  pale  of  the 
Church.     But  it  is  impossible  for  any  human 


FIRST   CONFERENCE.  49 

being,  of  whatsoever  state  or  condition,  to  be 
saved  unless  he  loves  God  above  all  things,  and 
his  neighbor  as  himself,  according  to  the  mea- 
sure of  his  liglit  and  gi-ace.  God's  love  for 
each  of  us  surpasses  the  power  of  imagination, 
and  perhaps  measures  the  divine  possibilities  ; 
for  He  asks  by  the  mouth  of  the  prophet 
Isaias  :  ^Yhat  more  can  I  do  for  my  vineyard 
that  I  have  not  done  ?  He  not  only  demands 
our  love,  but  merits  it  because  of  what  He  has 
done  for  us,  and  because  of  the  excellence  of 
His  nature  and  perfections.  He  cannot  but  be 
desirable  to  all  intelligent  beings  because  of  His 
infinite  beauty,  goodness,  and  love.  If  but  a 
single  drop  of  the  sweetness  of  His  goodness 
fell  on  the  hopeless  regions  of  the  lost  it  would 
extinguish  all  its  flames  and  change  it  into 
paradise  in  an  instant.  His  power  is  omnipo- 
tent ;  nothing  is  difficult  to  Him  ;  His  duration 
is  eternity  ;  His  home  is  immensity  ;  His  mea- 
sure is  infinity,  and  His  course  is  unchangeable. 
His  treasures  have  no  end  (Is.  ii.  7).  lie  has 
fixed  all  things  in  measure^  number^  and 
weight  (Wisd.  xi.  2).  He  is  high  in  His 
strength^  and  none  is  like  Him  (Job  xxxvi. 
22).  He  is  higher  than  heaven^  and  what  wilt 
thou  do  f  He  is  deeper  than  hell^  and  how  icilt 
thou  liiioio  f  The  measure  of  Him  is  longer  than 


50  THE   BLESSED    TJU>;iil. 

the  earthy  is  broader  than  the  sea  (Job  xii.  8,  9). 
In  whose  hand  is  the  soul  of  every  living  thing 
and  the  spirit  of  all  flesh  of  man  (Job  xii.  10). 
Whose  wrath  no  man  can  resist^  and  under 
whom  they  stoop  that  bear  up  the  world  (Job 
ix.  13).  Thousands  of  thousands  ministered  to 
Him^  and  ten  thousand  times  a  hundred  thou- 
sand stood  before  Him  (Dan.  vii.  10).  Who  is 
able  to  declare  His  worlis  f  Wlio  shall  search 
out  His  glorious  acts  f  Who  shall  shoio  forth 
the  power  of  His  majesty?  (Ecclus.  xviii.  2  et 
seq.) 

Because  of  tlie  nature  of  His  love  for  us,  and 
because  of  His  infinite  perfections,  we  should  in 
return  love  Him  and  keep  His  commandments, 
and  they  are  not  heavy.  Let  us  thank  the 
Father  of  mercies,  who  has  called  us  out  of 
darkness  into  His  marvellous  light  (1  Peter  ii. 
9).  Let  us  pray  for  those  who  are  in  the  dark- 
ness of  infidelity,  that  they,  too,  may  know  and 
serve  Him  here  on  earth  and  reign  with  Him  in 
Heaven. 

Now,  To  the  King  of  ages,  immortal  and  in- 
visible, the  only  God,  be  lienor  and  glory  for 
ever  and  ever.    Amen  (1  Tim.  i.  17). 


CONFEEEI!^CE    II. 


ON  THE  DIVINE  PERFECTIONS,  ALL  TOTALLY 
POSSESSED  BY  EACH  PERSON  OF  THE  MOST 
HOLY  TRINITY. 


Other  Proofs  of  tlic  Existence  of  the  Most  Higlv— All  holy  and 
honorable  Names  are  llis  Attributes — The  Name  of  Esseu'  o 
— The  divine  Nature  and  Attributes  the  same — All  deduced 
from  one  as  a  Premise — Essential  and  mornl  Attributes — 
Unimaginable  Life  of  God — Eternity  and  Immensity  conxi- 
lative  —  Nothing  from  Nothing  proceeds  —  Immutability — 
Unity  and  Simplicity— All  God's  Attributes  and  Perfections 
are  one — Justly  distinguished  in  our  Conceptions — St.  Ire- 
napus — The  divine  Essence  never  seen  by  mortal  Man — In- 
comprehensible— Moral  Attributes  pertain  to  God  as  Creator 
—Permission  of  Evil— God  is  not  the  Author  of  Sin— Wis- 
dom— Knowledge,  but  not  Foreknowledge— Love,  Truth, 
Mercy,  Justice — Alpha  and  Omega — Man's  limited  Perfec- 
tions prove  the  Infinite — Moral  Reflections,  etc.,  etc. 

T. 

He  who  is  (ExoD.  iii.  14). 

My  Brethren: 

When  I  last  addressed  you  I  proved  that 
heaven  and  earth  and  the  vast  expanse  of  crea- 
tion established  the  existence  of  the  great  First 
Cause,     and    that    man's     creation,    his    every 


52  THE   BLESSED   TIUNITY. 

thouglit,  word,  and  act,  and  the  laws  of  uni- 
versal motion,  confirmed  the  eternal  act.  I 
also  explained  how  reason  and  religion  vindi- 
cated the  truth  with  mathematical  certainty, 
and  that  all  arguments  combined  produced  the 
general  persuasion  of  mankind— an  unerring 
test  of  truth.  Permit  me  noAv  to  remark  that, 
even  if  engaged  in  the  occupation  for  eternity, 
neither  angels  nor  men  could  fathom  a  single 
attribute  of  God  or  exhaust  the  evidences  of 
His  existence.  This  truth  should  be  borne  in 
mind,  lest  perhaps  the  paltry  efforts  of  man  in 
this  direction  serve  but  to  dishonor  and  lower 
the  Great  Supreme  in  our  estimation.  If  a 
seraph  could  totally  understand  God  he  would 
by  that  fact  cease  to  be  a  creature. 

This  universal  conviction  from  w^hich  no  race 
has  escaped  is  a  necessity  of  the  human  mind ; 
His  evidences  are  implanted  in  the  soul  by  the 
hand  of  the  omnipotent  Creator,  which  no  so- 
phistry can  eliminate,  no  passion  destroy ;  the 
passions  may  burn  out  all  traces  of  virtue  and 
goodness  besides,  and  leave  the  moral  empire 
a  ruin  and  a  wreck. 

The  adorable,  self-sufficient  essence  of  the 
Most  High  God  has  been  established  by  the 
most  learned  that  ever  have  lived,  on  the  same 
grounds  from  which   the  gentiles    derived    tlie 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  53 

roots  of  moral  obligations  and  the  entire  race 
of  man  all  their  axioms  and  lirst  principles 
of  common  sense  and  rectitude,  and  where 
sound  philosophy  and  moral  theology,  in  a 
measure,  have  discovered  their  majors  and  the 
Incontestable  principles  of  truth — the  fact  of 
creation  and  the  innate  conviction  and  intui- 
tion of  the  soul. 

These  convictions  are  anterior  to  the  process 
of  reasoning.  They  flash  on  the  mind  with  a 
persuasion  greater  than  can  be  derived  from 
any  process  of  argumentation,  for  they  are  the 
groundwork  itself  of  argumentation  and  the 
materials  of  pliilosophy.  That  I  live,  that  I 
am  bathed  in  a  flood  of  light,  that  I  was  cre- 
ated by  the  sovereign  Lord  of  the  universe,  are 
facts  which  I  believe  with  a  conviction  that 
even  all  the  philosophical  reasoning  of  Plato  or 
St.  Thomas  could  not  produce.  They  are  tlie 
innate  convictions  of  the  immortal  soul.  This 
is  the  conviction  with  which  all  men  are  per- 
suaded that  God  exists. 

St.  Paul  affirms  that  so  plainly  is  the  Al- 
mighty God  manifested  in  His  works  that  we 
are  inexcusable  if  we  do  not  know  the  invis- 
ible from  the  things  that  are  seen.  It  is  as 
unreasonable  to  deny  Him  as  it  is  to  deny  our 
own  existence   or  that    of    the   world.      Hence 


54  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

theologians  deny  tlie  possibility  of  blameless 
ignorance  regarding  a  fact  so  incontestably  es- 
tablished by  creation,  by  reason,  by  revela- 
tion, by  the  senses,  by  innate  conviction.  In 
regard  to  the  certainty  of  this  eternal  truth 
our  condition  differs  from  that  of  the  just  in 
heaven  in  this:  that  they  behold  Him  face  to 
face,  whereas  we  see  Him  indirectly  or  me- 
diately through  the  light  of  reason  and  of 
faith. 

It  is  by  His  attributes  that  Grod  is  known ; 
they  are  His  nature. 

The  errors  of  mankind  have  been  concerning 
God's  nature  rather  than  His  existence.  The 
great  evil  and  misfortune  of  men  is  the  ignor- 
ing of  the  rights  of  the  Creator.  This  is  in- 
deed the  sad  mystery  of  human  perversity. 
Practically  there  is  scarcely  another  truth  so 
little  realized,  and  there  are  none  more  out  of 
place  than  is  Gfod  in  His  own  world,  or  whom 
men  so  persistently  forget ;  the  bare  remem- 
brance of  Him  is  an  excellence. 

When  men  by  their  vices  and  errors  had 
clouded  the  great  truth  He  threw  an  additional 
flood  of  light  around  it,  that  it  might  be  more 
distinctly  understood  and  that  the  obligations 
it  imposes  might  be  more  faithfully  observed. 
In  the  solitude  of  the  wilderness   He  revealed 


SECOND    CONFEUKNCK.  65 

Himself  to  the  Hebrew  legislator  by  a  new 
name,  the  name  of  essence,  which  measures  the 
plenitude  of  His  existence,  expresses  all  the  di- 
vine nature  and  His  infinite  perfections,  and  to 
which  nothing  could  be  added,  for  it  contains 
eminently  and  without  limitation  the  excellen- 
ces of  all  beings,  actual  and  possible.  *'I  am 
WHO  I  AM.  Thus  shalt  thou  say  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel :  He  wiro  is,  sent  me"  (Exod.  iii. 
14.  Thus  He  distinctly  teaches  us  who  He  is 
and  what  is  His  nature ;  that  He  is  living,  ab- 
solute, self -existing,  and  necessary ;  that  He  ex- 
ists by  necessity  and  is  life  itself — not  merely 
a  condition  or  accidental  quality  of  it,  but  His 
essence  and  nature ;  that  without  Him  nothing 
can  be ;  that  all  things  exist  in  Him  and  from 
Him  and  by  Him  (Rom.  xi.  36). 

St.  John  of  Damascus  appropriately  remarks : 
*'He  who  is,  is  God's  first  and  greatest  name, 
for  He  embraces  all  things  in  Himself,  and  He 
possesses  existence  itself,  the  infinite  ocean  of 
being.  He  is  called  life  because  he  is  its  foun- 
tain. /  lim^  saith  the  Lord  (Jer.  xxii.  24).  He 
gives  life  to  all  (Acts  xvii.  25).  He  hath  life 
in  Himself  (John  v.  26).  Being  is  his  essential 
name,  glorious,  incommunicable,  ineffable.  It 
expresses  all  that  God  is.  Wonderful  name  ! 
who  dare  profane   it?      Gleaming    oh    Aaron's 


5(j  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

breastplate,    only    tlie    high-priest   must    speak 
it." 

Pantheism,  in  asserting  that  all  things  are 
God,  as  implicitly  denies  God  as  the  Nihilists, 
who  say  that  nothing  is  God.  For  the  inces- 
sant changes  of  things  show  that  they  are  not 
necessary,  while  their  discord,  one  neutralizing 
the  other,  proves  that  they  have  not  an  identity 
of  substance.  A  succession  of  secondary  causes 
is  no  less  ridiculous,  for  they  are  not  all  in- 
telligent, and  the  first  link  must  have  made  it- 
self!  A  being  infinitely  wise  and  powerful,  by 
whom  all  these  things  were  made,  must  be  dis- 
tinct from  them. 

Holy  Writ  says  that  God  is  in  all  things 
(Ecclus.  xliii.  29).  All  things  were  made  hy  His 
word;  He  is  omnipotent  above  all  His  loorks 
(ibid.  30).  The  origin  and  preservation  of 
all  things  are  ascribed  to  Him.  He  is  great 
and  lias  no  end^  high  and  immense  (Baruch  iii. 
25).  We  receive  from  Him  life  and  motion, 
but  not  His  divine  nature  (Rom.  xi.  5).  There- 
fore all  things  were  created  by  Him,  nor  can 
there  be  a  perfection  in  any  creature  which 
does  not  exist  in  God  eminently  and  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner. 

Reason,  revelation,  and  innate  conviction 
prove  that  there  is  one,  and  only  one,  God,  the 


SECOND   CONFEKENCE.  57 

infinitely  perfect  Being.  A  fact  thus  established, 
and  confirmed  by  the  universal  assent  of  man- 
kind and  with  mathematical  certainty,  becomes 
a  fixed  principle  from  which  as  a  premise  all 
the  divine  attributes  are  derived  and  follow 
one  after  another  as  a  logical  induction.  In 
possession  of  one  attribute,  reason  draws  all 
the  others  from  the  fii'st  by  way  of  syllogism, 
just  as  we  deduce  in  algebra  all  that  the  given 
formula  implies.  This  order  is  followed  by  St. 
Thomas.  He  first  proves  the  existence  of  God 
by  motion.  According  to  the  inductive  system, 
which  grants  the  major,  he  proves  the  prime 
motive  power  to  be  immutable.  Taking  im- 
mutability as  one  of  God's  metaphysical  per- 
fections, he  deduces  from  it  stej)  by  step  and 
in  an  unbroken  chain  the  divine  attributes. 

God's  attributes  are  his  perfections;  they  are 
His  nature  and  the  conditions  of  His  being. 
Eternity,  infinity,  immensity,  immutability,  om- 
nipotence, wisdom,  perfection,  and  holiness — 
these  eight  are  essential.  They  contain  the 
inmost  life  of  the  Great  Supreme,  independent 
of  His  external  works.  They  are  the  condi- 
tions of  his  essence  and  of  all  we  attribute  to 
it,  and  belong  to  the  self-sufiiciency  of  God 
separately  from  creation.  There  are  six  others, 
making  fourteen  in  all,  touching  His  relation 

5 


58  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

to  external  things  or  creatures.  These  six  are 
dominion,  providence,  benevolence,  justice,  mer- 
cy, love,  as  well  as  His  being  the  beginning  and 
end  of  all  things. 

Although  creation  is  not  eternal,  it  always 
existed  in  the  divine  Mind  from  everlasting, 
and  hence  God  was  never  absolutely  without 
His  works.  They  are  in  Him  eminently  and 
without  the  limits  of  creatures,  and  more  per- 
fectly ;  for  their  conceptions  are  eternal  and 
immutable.  The  work  of  the  artist  does  not 
essentially  alter  his  nature ;  much  less  can  God 
be  changed  by  his  outward  works.  The  fore- 
seen worship  of  His  creatures  was  the  same  be- 
fore God  always  that  it  is  now  and  in  act. 

Yet  we  may  consider  God,  the  august  Trin- 
ity, in  the  threefoldness  of  persons  and  in  the 
unity  of  essence,  in  the  abstract  or  without  crea- 
tures. His  eternal  solitude  is  a  conception 
that  overwhelms  the  mind  with  awe,  self-suf- 
ficing ;  He  is  His  own  glory.  His  own  great- 
ness. His  own  love.  His  own  infinite  beatitude. 
His  own  interminable  life.  Let  Him  multiply 
new  systems  for  every  orb  now  in  existence, 
and  there  will  remain  unexplored  the  infinite 
residence  of  His  unknown  and  unimaginable 
life. 

The   All-Holy  Lord,    self -existing    and    abso- 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  69 

lute,  or  free  from  tlie  conditions  of  creatures, 
must  necessarily  be  infinite — not  at  one  point, 
but  on  all  sides  and  in  every  possible  way 
and  manner.  A  limited  being  exists  to  a  cer- 
tain point  only,  and  there  it  dies ;  it  does  not 
exist  beyond  it,  like  regal  authority  beyond  its 
own  proper  state.  Such  a  being  is  circum- 
scribed and  limited  by  qualifications  and  fixed 
boundaries.  He  is  not  simple  and  absolute — 
not  the  infinite  I  am  who  am. 

We  are  so  saturated  with  creatures  that  we 
think  of  tlie  Uncreated  Majesty  as  a  creature 
under  a  creature's  fonn  and  transfer  to  Him 
their  image.  But  the  mind  must  needs  soar 
above  these  habitual  distractions  and  fix  its 
steady  gaze  on  the  divine  simplicity.  If  the 
Creator  were  restricted  in  any  sense  or  at  any 
point  he  could  not  be  or  exist  beyond  that 
point,  nor  could  he  be  at  all.  Infinite  in  es- 
sence and  in  every  manner,  this  incomprehensi- 
ble perfection  qualifies  air  His  attributes.  He 
is  not  only  infinitely  patient  and  compassion- 
ate, but  he  is  infinity  itself.  It  may  be  st3^1ed 
His  sole  perfection,  because  it  includes  all.  It 
is  frequently  inculcated  in  Holy  Scrij^ture : 
The  Lord  is  great  and  liatli  no  end;  He  is 
high  and  immense  (Baruch  iii.  25).  His  great- 
ness Jtas  no  end  (Ps.  xliv.  3). 


60  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

Some  divines  maintain  that  numerically 
God's  attributes  cannot  be  counted.  All  hon- 
orable and  magnificent  terms  can  be  applied 
to  Him  and  are  His  predicates.  Whatever 
perfection  is  found  in  the  creature  is  but  a 
quality  of  the  plenitude  thereof  in  God.  His 
adorable,  self- subsisting  essence  combines  all, 
not  only  in  their  various  degrees,  but  eminent- 
ly and  without  any  of  the  limits  and  priva- 
tions that  attend  them  in  creatures.  Thus  He 
is  not  only  good  but  goodness,  not  only  holy 
but  holiness.  He  enjoys  all  things  in  an  infi- 
nite manner ;  and,  in  the  opinion  of  some  theo- 
logians, their  number  surpasses  created  con- 
ception and  can  be  known  only  to  Himself. 
He  possesses  them  in  an  absolute  simplicity 
which  belongs  only  to  God.  The  brightness  of 
the  light  around  His  throne  is  so  intense  as 
to  be  inaccessible,  and  is  called  darkness  in 
Holy  Writ.  Because  He  is  ineffable,  silence 
seems  His  meetest  praise.  The  saints  were 
mostly  speechless  during  their  ecstasies. 

Existing  by  the  necessity  of  His  nature,  it 
is  obvious  even  to  reason  alone  that  Jehovah 
must  be  infinite  in  every  sense.  It  therefore 
follows,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  this  fact, 
that  He  is  all  that  is  possible.  Because  if  not 
in  this  sense  and  under  this  condition,   there 


SECOND   CONFEKENCE.  61 

would  be  a  limit  beyond  which  He  would  not 
exist ;  or,  what  is  equivalent,  there  would  be 
no  God  at  all,  if  He  were  not  infinitely  all 
that  is  possible.  He  is  not  only  all  that  is 
possible,  but  possibility  and  act  are  one  and 
inseparable  in  Him.  He  doeth  all  things 
whatsoever  He  wllleth^  in  heaven  and  on 
earth  (Ps.  ciii.)  One  of  the  Fathers  re- 
marks what  is  most  true  but  truly  wonder- 
ful:  *'That,  being  a  simple  act,  God  exercises 
His  omnipotence  in  order  to  do  nothing."  All 
possibilities  are  actual  in  Him.  It  is  by  His 
omnipotence  that  He  did  not  create  sooner  or 
diiferently.  Yet  in  the  presence  of  eternity 
there  is  no  x)eriod  of  time,  sooner  or  later.  Im- 
mensity and  eternity  are  coiTelative  attributes 
with  infinity.  For  by  the  very  same  reason 
for  which  God  is  infinite  He  must  be  immense 
and  eternal.  If  not  eternal,  then  there  was  a 
time  when  He  was  not ;  and  if  not  immense, 
there  is  a  place  in  which  He  is  not.  In  such 
a  case,  then,  He  would  not  be  pure,  simple, 
and  absolute  being;  there,  in  fact,  would  be 
no  God  at  all.  God  is  present  everywhere,  es- 
pecially in  heaven,  where  He  manifests  Himself 
to  the  blessed.  He  is  in  the  soul  of  the  saint 
and  in  the  spirit  of  evil,  in  all  His  infinite  be- 
ing, and  the  difference  is  in  the  different  man- 


62  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

ner  in  wliicli  He  commnnicates  Himself — not 
the  same  way  in  any  two  individuals. 

The  question  why  anything  exists  is  absurd. 
Because  God  necessarily  is  it  is  impossible  for 
Him  not  to  exist  in  all  places  and  at  all  times. 
There  never  was  an  alternative  between  being 
and  no  being,  between  something  and  nothing. 
There  never  was  a  time  when  the  All-Holy  Ma- 
jesty did  not  exist  and  as  He  is  now.  There 
never  was  and  never  can  be  a  possibility  of  His 
not  being.  It  is  a  divine  necessity,  and  here 
he  is  not  free  ;  this  is  a  perfection  of  His  na- 
ture. It  is  as  impossible  that  God  should  not 
have  existed  as  it  is  impossible  that  nothing  ever 
existed,  that  nothing  was  or  ever  could  be. 

Both  propositions  are  contradictory  and  mu- 
tually destroy  one  another.  The  following  pro- 
positions are  identical  and  ex]3ress  the  same 
idea.  Being  exists,  and  nothing  does  not  ex- 
ist. From  nothing  nothing  ever  could  come. 
The  Supreme  Being  exists,  and  exists  necessa- 
rily. No  doubt  of  this  could  arise  except  in 
the  instance  of  one  who  has  not  a  correct  idea 
of  the  great  First  Cause,  self -existing  and  nec- 
essary. 

God  must  be  of  Himself,  otherwise  He  must 
have  proceeded  from  another;  in  which  case 
He  would  not  be  absolute,  but  secondary  and 


"second  conference.  63 

relative,  and  tliat  other  would  be  God,  wliich 
is  absurd.  Therefore  if  the  Almighty  God  is 
necessary  He  must  be  of  Himself.  But  this  is 
merely  the  same  idea  in  two  forms. 


II. 


It  is  strictly  true  that  because  God,  who  cre- 
ated us,  is  eternal  and  immetise  He  must  be 
simultaneously  in  all  places  and  at  every  point 
of  time.  We  can  form  some  idea  of  His  ubi- 
quity, or  presence  in  every  point  of  space,  but 
to  conceive  how  He  can  be  present  at  every 
point  of  time  baffles  human  understanding.  Yet, 
being  absolute,  He  must  needs  be  present  sim- 
ultaneously at  all  points  both  of  space  and  time. 
All  past  ages  are  present  to  Him.  In  His  pre- 
sence there  is  no  past  nor  future,  but  an  unsuc- 
cessive,  unchanging  now.  Time  and  space  are 
man's  home  temporarily.  The  past,  the  pre- 
sent, and  the  future  are  the  knowledge  of  God, 
and  are  embraced  by  His  infinity  and  in  its  in- 
effable simplicity.  All  periods  of  time  meet  in 
Him  as  a  unit,  as  all  lines  drawn  from  the  cir- 
cumference of  a  circle  meet  in  the  centre. 

Unaided  reason  proves  that  the  Necessary  Be- 
ing is  eternal,  vdthout  beginning,  end,  or  suc- 
cession ;  that  He  always  was,  for  it  is  impossi- 


64  THE  BLESSED   TRIlSriTY. 

ble  to  conceive  how  He  could  spring  from  no- 
thing. ^'If  ever,"  said  a  philosopher  and  a 
Christian,  "there  was  an  instant  when  there 
was  nothing,  nothing  should  last  for  ever." 
There  would  be  nothing  now.  /  am  the  first 
and  the  last,  says  the  Lord  (Isa.  xli.  1).  He  is 
the  Alpha  akd  the  Omega  of  the  Apocalypse. 

Eternity  is  the  simultaneous  and  perfect  pos- 
session of  an  interminable  life.  The  long  and 
weary  lapse  of  indefinite  ages  compared  to  it 
is  less  than  the  raindrop  to  the  ocean.  How 
ineffable  the  bliss  that  gathers  into  every 
moment,  into  every  thought,  the  accumulated 
joys  of  infinite  perfections  and  beatitudes  ! 

The  Holy  Gfhost  frequently  proclaims  the  im- 
mensity of  Gfod.  He  is  whole  and  entire  every- 
where and  in  everything,  in  every  being,  not 
more  in  the  angel  than  in  the  insect,  not  more 
in  the  orb  of  the  firmament  than  in  the  grain 
of  sand  by  the  sea-shore.  Yet  He  is  no  more 
confined  or  limited  to  space  than  is  thought  to 
the  body.  In  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have 
OUT  being  (Acts  xvii.  28).  He  fills  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  (Jer.  xxiii.  24).  "Whither  shall 
I  go  from  Thy  spirit  ?  If  I  ascend  into  heaven. 
Thou  art  there  ;  if  I  descend  into  hell,  Thou  art 
present ;  if  I  take  my  wings  early  in  the  morn- 
ing and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea, 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  65 

even  there  also  Thy  hand  shall  lead  me  and 
Thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me"  (Ps.  exxxviii.) 
*'He  is  all  in  heaven,  He  is  all  on  earth,  He  is 
not  limited  by  any  place.  He  is  all  in  Himself 
in  every  place,"  says  St.  Angustine.  If  He 
could  be  absent  from  any  place  it  wonld  be 
possible  for  Him  not  to  exist  at  all.  But  He 
is  necessary.  He  could  not  have  made  Himself, 
nor  could  He  have  made  any  creature  absolutely 
like  Himself.  He  is  immense,  so  that  we  can- 
not escape  from  Him  ;  eternal,  so  that  all  things 
are  nothing  before  Him  ;  omniscient,  so  that  we 
are  laid  open,  without  a  secret,  before  Him. 

Everything  is  penetmted  by  Him,  yet  His 
adorable  purity  remains  untainted  and  His  sim- 
plicity unmingled  with  that  which  it  so  inti- 
mately permeates.  All  we  do,  say,  or  think 
takes  place  in  the  being  of  the  omnipresent 
God — a  truth  which,  while  it  consoles  on  one 
hand,  on  the  other  gives  a  frightful  character 
to  acts  of  sin.  We  are  in  Him  like  fish  in 
the  sea.  He  is  as  intimately  present  in  every 
being  and  in  each  atom  as  though  that  alone 
were  the  only  point  in  existence.  He  legislates 
for  one  as  for  all,  and  concentrates  all  crea- 
tion on  it. 

The  Almighty  is  also  immutable.  There  is  no 
change  in  Him.     Change  implies  ignorance,  de- 


66  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

cay,  and  imperfection.  To  change  is  to  become 
what  one  was  not,  or  to  cease  being  that  which 
one  was.  If  one  becomes  that  which  he  was 
not,  he  was  separated  from  it  and  did  not  exist 
in  this  sense.  If  he  loses  what  he  was  or  had, 
he  ceases  to  exist  in  that  point  and  is  separated 
from  it.  In  either  case  he  neither  was  nor  is 
absolute  or  perfect  being.  When  he  creates  he 
does  not  change  ;  the  act  and  its  conceptions 
always  existed  immutably  in  the  divine  Mind. 

As  there  never  was  a  time  when  the  Lord  was 
not  in  all  the  plenitude  of  His  self-sufficient 
majesty.  He  is  always  the  self -same.  Ood  is  not 
as  man  that  He  should  Ue^  or  the  son  of  man 
that  He  should  change  (Num.  xxiii.  13).  I 
change  not  (Mai.  iii.  6).  He  is  without  the 
shadow  of  mcissitude  (James  i.  17).  '*He 
changes  His  works,  but  not  His  plans  or  coun- 
sels," said  St.  Augustine. 

Then  He  is  immutable.  He  is  actually  all 
that  He  is.  Unlike  us — part  in  act  and  part  in 
potency — He  is  all  act.  To  will  and  to  do  are 
the  same  with  Him.  He  is  all  His  infinite  pos- 
sibility, actually  present  and  living.  He  is  a 
SIMPLE  ACT,  as  He  is  justly  styled  both  by  Aris- 
totle and  St.  Thomas. 

Grod  is  absolutely  and  infinitely  simple,  not 
complex  or  in  any  way  composed  of  parts.     Gfod 


SECOND   CONFEPwENCE.  07 

is  spirit  (Jolm  iv.  24).  The  Lord  is  a  spirit 
(2  Cor.  iii.  17).  If  composed  He  must  have 
parts,  material  or  sinritual ;  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence wliich.  If  material,  as  in  bodies,  one  part 
must  be  at  one  point  and  another  at  a  different 
place,  like  hand  and  foot.  He  would  not  be  en- 
tire in  any  of  them,  nor  simple  and  absolute  in 
any  one  of  them,  nor  absolute  at  all. 

If  He  be  composed  of  spiritual  or  immaterial 
parts  these  parts  would  be  distinct  attributes, 
one  of  which  would  not  be  the  other  and  none 
of  them  Himself  totally.  They  would  be  limited 
in  relation  to  each  other  and  limited  in  relation 
to  Himself.  They  would  be  circumscribed  and 
limited  attributes.  He  could  only  exist  to  the 
end  of  these  limited  attributes  and  not  beyond 
them.  He  could  not  be  infinite  and  absolute. 
The  Necessary  Being,  therefore,  cannot  be  com- 
posed in  any  manner.  He  is  absolutely  simi)le, 
and  consequently  all  His  attributes  are  identical 
with  each  other  and  with  the  divine  essence. 

Properly  speaking,  God  has  no  perfections, 
which  are  our  way  of  approaching  to  an  hon- 
orable idea  of  him.  The  ineffable  simplicity 
of  the  divine  nature  renders  it  impossible  to 
form  a  just  conception  of  otte  teue  God.  He 
is  His  own  perfection,  and  that  embraces  all. 
Simplicity  is  the  whole  of   God.      It  must  be 


68  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

laid  down  as  a  fact,  established  by  reason  and 
religion,  that  there  is  perfect  equality  between 
all  God's  attributes— Himself,  His  being,  and 
His  adorable  essence. 

The  holy  doctors  prove  and  inculcate  this 
profound  mystery  very  forcibly.  St.  Thomas 
thus  expresses  it:  *'In  God  being  and  essence 
are  identical ;  the  understanding  of  God  is 
His  essence;  God's  will  is  His  essence;  God 
is  His  own  life;  God  is  His  own  beatitude." 
St.  Irenseus,  in  refuting  the  Gnostics,  who 
impiously  imputed  human  affections  to  God, 
thus  expresses  himself:  ''The  Father  of  all 
is  infinitely  remote  from  human  passions  and 
feelings.  He  is  simple  and  not  compound ; 
He  is  Himself  all  like  to  Himself  ;  He  is  all 
equal  because  He  is  all  spirit  and  intellect ;  He 
is  like-membered,  or  all  His  members  are  the 
same."  The  expression  is  wonderful  and  unique 
— 'O/^oiokgdXov.  The  same  idea  is  found  in  Ci- 
cero, but  the  expression  different  {Tusc,  book 
i.  chap,  xxvii.) 

God  is  absolutely  simple,  or  one.  /  am  one 
(Deut.  xxxii.  39).  He  is  unity  itself ;  He  only 
is  oneness.  The  Infinite  alone  is  absolutely  one, 
because  He  is  absolutely  total.  No  creature  is 
total  or  absolutely  full  and  complete.  There  is 
no  absolute  concrete  unity  outside  of  God.    Our 


SECOND   CONFEEENCE.  69 

thoughts,  ideas,  and  souls  in  comparison  with 
matter  are  simple,  yet  in  themselves  they  are 
complex.  All  the  faculties  of  the  soul  are  dis- 
tinct, and  one  is  not  the  other.  An  atom  is 
one  in  its  centre  only,  which  is  not  itself  en- 
tirely. All  created  unity  is  a  mere  shadow  of  the 
incomprehensible  unity  of  the  ever-blessed  God. 
He  alone  is  one  ;  He  alone  is  simplicity  itself. 

Although  there  can  be  no  real  distinction  be- 
tween the  divine  perfections,  nevertheless  they 
are  justly  distinguished  in  our  thoughts  and 
conceptions.  Justice  and  mercy  offer  different 
ideas  to  our  minds.  In  God  they  are  one  and 
the  same.  This  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  God 
presents  Himself  in  a  different  manner  or  de- 
gree of  esseity  or  light  to  His  creatures.  He 
puts  Himself  in  a  great  variety  of  attitudes, 
acts,  and  relationship  with  us,  as  the  sun  in 
the  heavens  does  not  always  present  the  same 
appearance  to  the  world  which  he  rules  and 
enlightens.  Morning,  noon,  and  evening,  and 
throughout  the  entire  day,  his  aspects  vary. 
We  know  that  the  self- subsisting  essence  of 
God  is  in  each  of  the  three  Uncreated  Persons 
of  the  Most  Holy  Trinity  in  its  unity  and  sim- 
plicity, and  we  also  know  that  the  attributes 
are  not  synonyms.  St.  Bernard  beautifully 
teaches    the    doctrine  as  follows:    ^*Away  with 


70  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

heretics  who  impiously  assert  that"  the  great- 
ness by  which  God  is  great,  the  goodness  by 
which  He  is  good,  the  wisdom  by  which  He  is 
wise,  the  justice  by  which  He  is  just,  and  the 
divinity  by  which  He  is  God,  is  not  God!" 

God  is  invisible.  Although  so  intimately  pre- 
sent in  all  His  works.  He  was  never  seen  by 
mortal,  and  thus  gives  room  for  faith,  that  we 
may  win  an  eternal  recompense  by  its  exercise. 
The  King  of  ages^  immortal  and  invisible^ 
whom  no  man  saw  nor  can  see  (1  Tim.  i.  17). 
It  was  an  angel  that  conversed  with  Moses  and 
gave  the  law,  as  the  representative  of  the  Most 
High.  The  Second  Person  was  never  seen  un- 
til He  became  man  and  dwelt  amongst  us,  the 
divine  essence  still  remaining  unseen. 

He  is  incomprehensible,  as  defined  by  the 
Yatican  Council.  ''The  soul  of  Jesus  Christ 
knows  and  sees  God  as  plainly  as  He  is  seen 
and  known"  is  a  condemned  proposition.  He 
surpassed  the  combined  understanding  of  all 
angels  and  saints.  ISTot  even  the  glory-strength- 
ened eye  of  the  Mother  of  God  can  see  the 
plenitude  of  the  divine  nature.  Behold  God  is 
great  teyond  our  Jcnowledge  (Job  xxxvi.  26). 
We  are  cautioned  not  to  scrutinize  His  myste- 
ries rashly.'  He  lolio  is  a  searcher  of  majesty 
shall  he  oppressed  with  glory  (Prov.  xxv.  27). 


SECOND   CONFEEENCE.  71 

The  great  First  Cause  is  omnipotent ;  He  can 
do  all  possible  things,  and  His  power  is  limit- 
ed only  by  His  perfections.  He  is  the  cause 
and  the  origin  of  all  things  besides  Himself. 
All  things  else  are  contingent  and  imperfect, 
and  could  not  have  produced  themselves.  As 
there  was  a  time  when  they  were  not,  it  fol- 
lows as  a  necessary  consequence  that  they  were 
produced  from  nothing.  But  nothing  short  of 
infinite  power  could  create  a  thing  from  no- 
thing or  preserve  its  existence  when  created. 
Therefore  the  Absolute  Being  is  also  omnipo- 
tent. This  He  assures  by  His  own  holy  word : 
0  Lord^  Lord^  almigJity  King^  there  is  none 
can  resist  Thy  will  (Esther  xiii.  9).  None  can 
resist  His  will  (Isa.  Iv.)  No  words  can  express 
it.  No  ideas  can  conceive  it  proi^erly.  It  costs 
Him  no  effort  to  call  numberless  j^ossible  worlds 
and  creations  out  of  nothing.  Impossibility  is  no 
limit  to  Him.  To  such  lerrific  i)ower  nothing 
is  impossible,  nothing  is  great  or  small.  Our 
free-will  alone  seems  to  be  a  limit  to  Him,  and 
we  dare  to  brave  His  might. 

He  desires  our  salvation  and  that  none  should 
perish.  By  an  abuse  of  His  grace  and  their 
own  free-will  many  resist  Him.  Even]  then  He 
is  not  defeated,  for  He  has  provided  an  alter- 
native.    By  primary  and  antecedent  will  He  de- 


72  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

sires  the  salvation  of  all.  It  is  but  conditional 
and  is  based  on  our  free  acceiDtance  of  the 
conditions.  If  we  reject  His  mercy  there 
is  the  secondary  will  by  which  He  decrees 
that  obstinate  sinners  shall  perish,  for  He  is 
just. 

Physical  evils  happen  by  His  will,  and  they 
are  good  and  necessary  in  the  wise  dispensa- 
tions of  His  merciful  providence.  BJiall  there 
he  an  evil  in  the  city  which  the  Lord  hath  not 
done  f  (Amos  iii.  6). 

It  is  asked  why  God  permits  moral  evils. 
Many  heretics  in  former  and  recent  times  blas- 
phemously assert  that  the  all-holy  Gfod  is  the 
author  of  sin.  Human  lijjs  could  not  utter  a 
deeper  impiety.  The  Holy  Gfhost  declares  that 
the  sinner  and  his  wickedness  are  both  hate- 
ful to  God  (Wisdom).  God  tempteth  no  man 
(James  i.  13).  This  is  the  will  of  God— your 
sanctification. 

But  He  permits  sin  for  wise  and  merci- 
ful purposes.  The  permission  of  evil  implies 
grace.  Without  it  neither  angels  nor  men 
would  be  free  ;  and  freedom  is  necessary  for 
merit.  A  heaven  of  saints  ready  made  was 
not  God's  plan,  nor  could  it  be  a  source  of 
glory  any  more  than  other  external  manifesta- 
tions of  His  wisdom  and  power.     The  fortitude 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  73 

of  the  martyrs,  the  unbending  perseverance  of 
the  confessors,  the  nobility  of  human  efforts, 
and  the  heroism  of  the  saints  are  based  on 
this  grave  permission,  and  all  the  varied  glories 
of  the  seats  of  bliss  in  Sion.  It  was  this  flood- 
ed the  world  with  grace  and  caused  the  as- 
tounding mystery  of  the  Kedemption.  Were 
it  not  for  this  terrible  truth  little  indeed  would 
be  known  of  the  wonders  of  divine  mercy. 
Power  creates  from  nothing,  but  mercy  brings 
good  from  evil. 

God  is  infinite  wisdom ;  He  knows  us  and  all 
things  else,  in  their  deepest  and  ultimate  causes, 
in  Himself.  All  human  and  angelic  knowledge 
is  but  a  ray  of  His  light ;  all  the  various 
tongues  of  men  a  broken  accent  of  the  Eternal 
Word.  He  is  the  abyss  of  all  possible  worlds 
and  creations  in  all  their  order,  harmony,  and 
variety  of  beings.  All  things  are  naked  and 
open  to  His  eyes  (Heb.  iv.  13),  even  our  most 
secret  actions  and  thoughts.  How  terrible, 
then,  the  agony  of  the  lost  one,  to  feel  that  he 
lies  open  and  transparent  before  the  gaze  of 
God's  infallible  wisdom  ! 

"  God' s  foreknowledge  has  as  many  witnesses 
as  there  are  prophets,"  says  Tertullian.  His 
all- seeing  eye  takes  in  at  a  single  glance  all 
things,  past,   present,   and  future— all  possible 


74  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

things,  all  even  tliat  never  will  occur,  but  would 
occur  if  certain  conditions  were  actuated.  Had 
Tyre  and  Sidon  but  beheld  the  miracles  done 
in  Corozain  and  Bethsaida  they  would  not  have 
perished. 

''Nothing,"  says  St.  Augustine,  ''is  future 
to  God.  He  fills  all  time,  and  His  knowledge 
embraces  all  things ;  they  are  not  future  but 
present,  and  should  be  called  knowledge  and 
not  foreknowledge."  His  knowledge  does  not 
destroy  our  freedom,  determine  our  acts,  nor 
impair  our  liberty.  These  are  foreseen  because 
they  occur ;  they  do  not  occur  because  they 
are  foreseen.  We  are  free  as  air,  and  we  know 
this  by  exi3erience.  God's  word  confirms  our 
innate  conviction :  Tliou  Jiast  made  all  things 
in  wisdom  (Ps.  ciii.  24).  It  is  not  in  the  ex- 
treme of  possible  excellence  that  this  wisdom 
manifests  itself,  but  in  the  harmony  of  crea- 
tion, in  the  adaptation  of  means  to  their  end, 
like  light  and  the  eye.  It  is  possible  for  God 
to  create  differently  and  more  perfectly,  but 
His  wisdom  would  then  be  no  more  conspicu- 
ous. 

The  moral  attributes  of  God  are  distinguish- 
ed from  the  metaphysical  and  have  a  relation 
to  the  duties  and  obligations  of  man.  They 
are  the   plenitude    of    all   virtues   in  God   and 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  75 

in  their  infinite  extent.     They  are  justice,  pa- 
tience, mercy,  etc.,  etc. 

God  is  truth.  He  is  all  truth,  in  all  its  de- 
partments— essential  and  absolute  truth.  God 
is  true  (Rom.  iii.  4).  He  does  not  lie  (John 
iii.  33) ;  it  is  impossible  (Tit.  1.  2).-  Everything 
is  what  it  is  in  His  sight,  and  no  more.  All 
truth  in  science  and  in  creation  is  a  derivation 
of  the  truth  of  God.  Whatever  is  true  in 
them  is  so  because  it  is  in  accord  with  Him, 
and  whatever  is  not  conformable  to  Him  is 
a  distortion  and  a  lie.  It  is  difficult  to  con- 
ceive any  greater  disorder  than  a  falsehood 
in  religion,  a  lie  about  God.  It  is  excessive 
misery  and  vice,  and  its  wilful  abettors  are 
no  less  odious  than  were  the  priests  of  the 
idols. 

Justice  is  resplendent  among  the  moral  per- 
fections of  our  most  compassionate  Creator. 
TJiou  art  just^  0  Lord^  and  thy  judgment 
is  right  (Ps.  cxviii.  137).  It  is  infallibly 
certain  that  He  will  render  to  emry  man  ac- 
cording  to  his  worJcs  (Matt.  xvi.  27).  True,  in 
this  world  the  wicked  often  prosper  and  the 
just  suffer.  But  human  life  is  only  the  begin- 
ning of  our  existence,  and  the  earth  is  not  the 
theatre  of  God's  infinite  justice.  It  is  too  nar- 
row, mortal  man  is  too  weak,  and  all  time  too 


7G  THE   BLESSED   TRINITY. 

sliort.  It  is  for  eternity  that  the  immortal  spi- 
rit will  suffer  or  be  recompensed.  Fnll  justice 
in  this  corner  of  creation  would  be  not  only 
impossible,  bnt  wonld  not  be  in  harmony  with 
our  condition  or  advantages,  and  our  destiny, 
and  the  laws  of  our  redemption.  Suffeiings 
are  the  special  marks  of  God's  favor  and  in- 
variably the  portion  of  the  righteous.  The 
woes  of  the  Man-God  are  among  the  most 
frightful  mysteries  of  the  Gospel.  Woe  to  you 
rich,  woe  to  you  wlio  now  laugh  and  rejoice! 
Blessed  are  the  poor,  the  meeTc,  the  merciful. 

Lest  we  maybe  tempted  to  doubt  God's  jus- 
tice, He  frequently  disj)lays  portions  of  it  on 
earth.  He  bestows  natural  rewards  on  natural 
virtues ;  no  sin  will  ever  pass  unpunished  and 
no  virtue  unrewarded.  ^'Good  and  wicked 
princes  have  sat  on  the  same  throne,  to  show," 
says  St.  Augustine,  "that  the  favors  of  fortune 
are  no  test  of  righteousness."  Divine  justice 
is  so  perfect  that  its  punishments  are  even 
magnificent,  yet  most  dreadful  because  of  their 
truthful  justice.  In  the  hopeless  home  of  the 
lost  there  is  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  pain 
beyond  the  strict  demands  of  austere  justice. 

The  entire  world  is  a  necropolis  because  of 
one  sin.  The  faultless  rigor  and  stern  demands 
of  justice  are  only  satisfied  fully  by  the  cruci- 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  77 

fixion  and  death  of  tlie  just  Judge  Himself. 
Who  knows  the  omnii)otence  of  divine  wrath, 
the  penalty  of  rejected  mercy  and  despised 
love  ?  It  is  a  divine  necessity ;  every  jail  and 
gibbet  on  earth  confirms  the  solemn  truth.  If 
there  be  no  future  penalties,  neither  can  there 
be  future  rewards,  and  all  man's  existence 
must  end  in  the  dust  and  dishonor  of  the 
tomb. 

God  is  infinitely  holy  because  He  is  essen- 
tial purity — holy  in  Himself  and  the  principle 
of  all  holiness  among  angels  and  men.  His 
holiness  cannot  grow  nor  increase,  as  among 
men,  for  it  is  His  essence.  In  Him  it  is  sub- 
stantial, for  it  is  Himself ;  it  is  also  a  quality, 
like  all  His  moral  attributes,  for  He  is  also 
holy.  All  our  holiness  consists  in  the  love  of 
God;  all  God's  holiness  consists  in  the  love  of 
Himself.  How  infinite  His  purity  !  The  sera- 
phim cry  out  incessantly,  Holy^  lioly^  Tioly^  Lord 
God  of  Hosts  (Isa.  vi.  3).  His  holiness  is  so 
absolute  that  if,  for  the  committal  of  but  one 
sin,  all  men  would  be  converted.  He  could  not 
sanction  it  any  more  than  He  could  cease  to  be 
God— no,  not  even  if  earth,  purgatory,  and  hell 
with  their  countless  hosts  would  by  that  act  be 
turned  into  paradise.  It  was  a  sin  that  nailed 
Christ  to  the  cross ;  ain  is  man's  only  evil. 


78  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

We  are  to  be  holy  because  our  heavenly  Fa- 
ther is  holy,  and  perfect  because  He  is  perfect. 
Our  moral  attributes  are  in  fearful  dissimilarity 
with  the  holiness  and  perfection  of  the  thrice 
holy  Grod.  Yet  He"  is  our  model,  and  we  must 
copy  Him  in  the  tenor  of  our  lives  and  actions 
if  we  would  reign  with  Him  for  ever.  To  fear 
God  and  keep  His  commandments  is  all  man's 
worth. 

f  Gfod  is  love.  He  throws  all  His  divine  perfec- 
tions into  one — love.  It  is  a  love  infinite,  eter- 
nal, immutable,  omnipotent,  and  so  throughout 
heaven  and  earth,  the  three  dispensations,  cre- 
ation, redemption,  the  Church,  all  that  is,  are 
produced  by  love.  The  chastisements  of  the 
future  life  are  the  penalty  of  its  rejection.  It 
is  a  frightful  disorder  when  the  creature  rejects 
the  proffered  love  and  friendship  of  his  Maker 
and  tramples  under  foot  His  just  command- 
ments, having  their  foundation  on  the  divine 
and  human  natures  and  the  just  relation  be- 
tween both.      "^ 

You  must  pardon  from  your  very  heart  your 
greatest  enemy,  or  your  transgressions  will  never 
be  forgiven  you  by  the  most  compassionate  Fa- 
ther, who  will  go  on  rewarding  for  aU  eternity 
for  even  a  cup  of  cold  water  given  for  His  sake 
to  your  needy  brother.     If  this  brother  be  your 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  79 

enemy  the  greater  still  will  be  the  reward.    Love, 
like  simiilicity,  is  the  whole  of  God. 

ConsiDicuous  among  the  moral  attributes  is 
mercy.  It  is  infinite ;  it  is  a  multitude  of  ten- 
der compassions  and  is  another  side  of  love, 
for  it  pardons  after  repeated  injuries,  and  craves 
to  be  asked.  What  causes  the  loss  of  the  soul 
but  the  rejection  of  proffered  mercy?  The  Al- 
mighty seems  to  be  indebted  to  us  for  this  gor- 
geous attribute,  which,  when  copied,  almost  dei- 
fies the  creature.  Be  you  merciful^  as  your 
heavenly  Father  is  merciful.  He  has  no  sor- 
rows Himself  to  relieve,  no  wants  to  supply. 
There  is  mercy  everywhere — earth  is  flooded 
with  it,  heaven  gleams  with  it,  purgatory  is  its 
special  creation.  *  Even  the  regions  of  perpetual 
night,  where  neither  hope  nor  rest  ever  comes, 
are  less  dark  because  of  some  excesses  of  its 
lights,  like  a  sunbeam  in  the  cell  of  the  con- 
demned to  whom  human  sympathy  is  denied. 
Anything  reasonable  may  be  asked  of  Mercy. 
It  brought  down  the  Son  of  God  from  heaven 
and  adorned  creation  with  the  splendors  of  our 
redemption.  Mercy  is  one  of  God's  perfections. 
Love  is  the  harmony  of  them  aU.  Benignity, 
goodness,  and  all  the  moral  attributes  are  es- 
tablished by  the  light  of  reason  and  taught  in 
Holy  Writ :  He  is  henignant  and  merciful.,  pa- 


80  TIIE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

tient  and  of  mucli  mercy  (Joel  ii.  13) ;  He  is 
infinite  heatitude  in  Himself  (1  Tim.  vi.  15). 
He  is  infinite  beauty,  power,  glory,  majesty, 
riclies — an  immense  ocean  of  being,  possessing 
in  their  plenitude  and  in  every  degree  all  real 
and  possible  goods  in  tlie  unity  of  tbe  most 
transcending  simplicity. 

The  Almighty  is  free ;  His  external  acts  are  all 
free.  He  was  not  compelled  by  any  necessity  to 
create ;  an  eternity,  in  fact,  had  passed  before 
anything  was  made  ;  yet  His  essential  glory  and 
bliss  were  nothing  less  when  He  dwelt  in  the 
uncreated  solitude  of  His  adorable  trinity  in 
unity.  He  could  have  made  all  things  in  a 
diiferent  manner;  the  whole  magnificent  ma- 
chinery^ of  a  thousand  worlds  could  be  altered ; 
the  immensity  of  space  could  be  filled  with  mil- 
lions of  orbs  and  peopled  with  intelligent  beings 
or  not,  according  to  His  free  and  intelligent  will : 
He  liatli  done  all  things  wliatsoe^Ger  He  would 
(Ps.  cxiii.  3). 

His  spotless  liberty  is  absolutely  holy,  wise, 
and  perfect.  It  is  limited  by  the  perfection  only 
of  His  nature,  nor  can  it  suffer  the  taint  of  sin 
or  error.  His  decrees  and  the  covenants  which 
the  divine  condescension  made  with  His  crea- 
tures proceed  from  His  holy  will  and  are  in  har- 
mony with  the  plan  and  purpose  of    creation 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  81 

and  with  the  salvation  of  the  human  family. 
Our  liberty  consists  in  choosing,  and  in  our 
fallen  state  the  perilous  choice  runs  between 
good  and  evil.  The  latter  is  too  frequently  pre- 
ferred, and  the  preference  is  licentious  and  slav- 
ish, for  no  man  is  free  who  is  not  free  from  him- 
self. If  he  is  the  slave  of  base  passions  and  of 
Satan,  if  he  is  the  tool  of  his  own  spite  and 
malice  and  the  victim  of  self-love,  with  what 
freedom  is  he  free?  The  truth  alone  can  maize 
you  free,  God  being  truth  essential.  He  is  in- 
linitely  free  and  ^His  liberty  unlimited. 

Our  merciful  Creator  is  the  beginning  and  the 
end  of  all  things.  We  came  from  Him,  and,  by 
the  necessity  of  our  nature,  unto  Him  must  we 
return.  As  rivers  rush  to  the  ocean,  so  do  we 
hasten  on  to  return  to  our  origin  and  source. 
Heaven  is  union  with  God,  hell  separation  from 
God.  God's  being  is  the  creature's  home  ;  God's 
end  is  Himself  and  ours  also ;  His  beatitude  is 
ours.  His  interests  ours ;  we  have  one  common 
cause,  and  the  sins  committed  against  Him  are 
universal  evils.  We  suffer  for  the  transgTes- 
sions  of  others  and  share  in  their  gTaces.  One 
saint  would  be  missed  from  heaven,  and  his  va- 
cant throne  would  be  an  unseemly  gap  in  the 
ranks  of  bliss.  We  are  members  of  Christ's 
mystic  body  and  members  of  each  other.     Every 

7 


82  THE  BLESSED  TRUSTITY. 

lost  soul  is  an  increase  of  torments  to  the  hope- 
less prisoners  in  their  eternal  dungeon. 

Liberty,  will,  power,  love,  goodness,  and  all 
moral  attributes  pertain  to  God,  and  the  denial 
of  any  one  of  them  is  at  least  material  atheism, 
for  in  the  absence  of  any  of  them  God  would 
not  be  perfect.  Man,  indeed,  would  be  superior 
to  God,  for  man  possesses  these  attributes  in  a 
measure  or  degree.  Eeason  proves  that  the  Al- 
mighty is  endowed  with  all  these  perfections 
to  an  unlimited  extent,  for  in  man  there  exist 
ideas,  vestiges,  and  degrees  of  these  excellences. 

We  have  asx)irations  which  nothing  short  of 
the  Infinite  can  satisfy  ;  we  have  longings  per- 
petually checked  by  a  sense  of  feebleness — long- 
ings which  are  circumscribed  within  the  limits 
of  a  narrow  prison.  An  admirable  adaptation 
exists  between  the  nature  of  God  and  the  na- 
ture of  man.  God  possesses  in  its  plenitude 
all  that  we  need ;  He  is  sufficient  for  Himself 
and  for  all  His  creatures,  and  the  superabun- 
dance of  His  riches  supplies  our  deficiency. 
We  sigh  for  good— He  is  all  goodness ;  we 
X)ine  for  strength — He  is  omnipotent ;  we  thirst 
for  truth— He  is  truth  essential ;  we  languish  for 
life— He  is  life  itself  ;  we  seek  peace — He  is  ever- 
lasting rest,  and  joy,  and  happiness.  The  crea- 
ture thirsts  for  the  influx  of  the  Creator,  and 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  83 

the  more  excellent  the  creature's  nature  the 
greater  are  his  wants.  It  is  asserted  that  these 
aspirations,  unrealized  within  us,  seek  abroad 
for  their  adequate  and  co-extensive  objects,  and, 
suppressing  their  limits,  run  out  into  an  infini- 
tude and  thus  create  a  God.  This  theory  of 
unbelievers  furnishes  an  undeniable,  self-evident 
proof  of  the  existence  of  the  merciful  God  and  of 
His  divine  perfections,  based  on  the  very  nature 
of  the  soul.  It  is  within  us  and  none  can  rob  us 
of  it :  No  thief  can  hreak  througli  and  steal. 

I  AM,  THEREFORE  GoD  IS.  My  cxisteuce  es- 
tablishes the  truth  of  His.  This  is  more  than 
demonstration — it  is  intuition,  flashing  on  the 
mind  with  the  conviction  of  a  self-evident  axiom. 
It  is  God's  handwriting,  indelibly  imprinting 
His  holy  name  upon  every  human  heart,  whe- 
ther in  the  enlightened  circles  of  society,  in  the 
desert,  or  in  the  islands  of  the  sea.  I  am  weak, 
inconstant,  imperfect,  dependent.  A  thousand 
worlds  could  flow  into  my  soul  and  stiU  leave 
it  a  barren  waste. 

Then  there  exists  a  Being  immutable,  eternal, 
ommx)otent,  infinitely  great  and  good.  For  it  is 
preposterous  to  suppose  that  the  imperfect,  the 
almost  nothing,  could  exist,  and  the  perfect,  the 
real  and  substantial,  should  not  exist ;  that  man 
can  be  and  God  cannot  be ! 


84  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

Pining,  weary,  and  langnisliing,  the  soul 
thirsts  for  the  true  and  the  real,  for  something 
better  than  all  it  beholds.  Wealth,  honor,  fame, 
power,  learning — they  were  all  weighed  and 
found  wanting ;  they  left  the  soul  dispirited 
and  disappointed.  Tlien  there  exists  a  Being 
greater  than  all  greatness,  infinitely  great,  and 
good,  and  beautiful,  and  true.  It  is  a  cruel 
mockery  to  assert  that  the  noble  aspirations  of 
the  soul  tend  to  nothing  real ;  that  they  are  mere 
illusions  thrown  out  from  the  heart,  like  the  phan- 
toms that  beguile  the  traveller  at  niglit  and  lure 
him  to  his  doom.  Then  the  insatiable  thirst  of 
the  soul  for  the  true,  the  good,  and  the  real 
is  but  a  deceit.  Then  there  are  attractions 
without  an  object,  eifects  without  a  cause,  and 
creatures  without  a  creator.  O  abyss  of  mis- 
ery into  which  infidelity  mercilessly-  hurls  its 
victims  after  robbing  them  of  rest,  and  peace, 
and  of  themselves !  Oh  !  no  ;  conscience,  prayer, 
sorrow,  suffering,  and  even  death,  convince  us 
that  we  are  irresistibly  hastening  on  to  the  Infi- 
nite, to  our  Father  and  our  God. 

I  am,  therefore  God  is.  I  am  an  intelligence, 
or  love,  an  energy;  then  God  is  all  these,  and 
more  besides,  in  an  infinite  manner.  I  atfirm 
of  Him,  without  any  limits,  all  the  perfections 
I  possess.     How  could  there  be  a  perfection  in 


SECOND  CONFEKENCK  85 

me,  if  it  were  not  in  God  ?  I  am,  therefore 
God  is.  If  I  destroy  the  limits  of  these 
my  perfections,  and  add  infinite  to  each,  they 
all  inevitably  reach  the  Author  of  my  being. 
He,  then,  is  infinitely  perfect  and  possesses  in 
infinite  manner  all  I  so  sadly  need.  Parched 
with  thirst,  pining  from  want,  and  consumed 
by  longings,  I  turn  to  my  merciful  Creator 
and  discover  that  He  possesses  in  their  x^l^ni- 
tude  all  I  need  and  my  spirit  yearns  for. 
May  He  not  grant  it  when  I  suffer  so  bitterly 
for  the  privation  ?  He  is  too  high ;  I  cannot 
reach  Him ;  may  He  not  find  a  way  to  reach 
me? 

Communication  is  the  natural  bent  and  ten- 
dency of  all  excellence  and  perfection.  Learn- 
ing loves  to  display  itself,  beauty  to  be  seen, 
and  goodness  will  bestow  with  a  generous  hand. 
How  much  more  is  not  this  the  case  with  infi- 
nite love,  infinite  goodness,  bounty,  and  com- 
passion, especially  when  the  gift  does  not  ex- 
haust nor  imi:)ov^rish  the  giver,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  enriches  him!  To  give  is  God's  na- 
ture ;  His  desire  and  His  glory  are  to  bestow. 
He  outstrips  Himself  and  overfloods  all  crea- 
tion with  a  deluge  of  His  favors. 

The  sun  does  not  bestow  his  light  more  free- 
ly, nor  the  fountain  its  waters,  than  God  be- 


86  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

stows  good  tilings  on  all  His  creatures.  He 
maketli  His  sun  to  sliine  on  the  good  and  tlie 
had,  and  rainetli  on  the  just  and  the  unjust 
(Matt.  V.  45).  He  bestows  His  vast  creation 
and  all  its  splendors,  heaven  and  all  its  riclies, 
on  each  of  the  just,  and  superadds  all  that  Om- 
nipotence will  ever  achieve.  He  is  Himself  our 
reward  exceeding  great,  and  nothing  less  than 
the  Infinite  can  satisfy  the  God-like  spirit.  No- 
thing is  too  good,  if  we  only  accept.  Worlds 
He  deems  too  insignificant  for  His  children  ; 
not  merely  these  does  He  lavish  on  us,  but  all 
the  plenitude  of  His  ineffable  being  and  all 
His  infinite  perfections.  See  Him  in  the  man- 
ger ;  see  Him  on  the  cross ;  see  Him  in  the 
Holy  Eucharist.  The  whole  of  God  is  the  pro- 
perty of  the  most  humble  communicant  at  His 
holy  table. 

Tliere  is  for  each  a  throne  of  glory  prepared 
that  outshines  the  splendors  of  the  starry  hea- 
vens, and  a  kingdom  compared  with  which  all 
the  wealth  of  the  universe  is  but  poverty.  The 
eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neitJter  hath  it 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  lohat 
God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him  (1 
Cor.  ii.  9).  All  that  He  has  and  is  becomes  our 
own  on  the  condition  that  we  love  Him  and 
keep  His  commandments.     In  this  is  all  man's 


SECOND   CONFERENCE.  87 

dignity,  and  not  in  the  vain  pomp  and  pageantry 
of  the  earth  nor  in  its  godless  splendors. 

In  our  belief,  and  in  the  tenor  of  our  lives 
and  actions,  we  must  honor  all  the  divine 
perfections,  and  all  of  them  at  once,  or  rather 
Himself  as  universal  perfection. 

Amid  trials  and  sufferings  God's  adorable  at- 
tributes are  our  consolation  and  our  support. 
We  can  rest  on  them  in  security  and  peace, 
like  the  child  in  the  bosom  of  the  most  ten- 
der parent,  and  prepare  ourselves  to  join,  af- 
ter a  short  time,  the  myriad  hosts  in  the  uni- 
versal hymn :  To  Him  that  slitetli  on  tlie 
throne^  and  to  the  Lamh^  benediction  and 
praise  and  glory  and  power  and  honor  for 
ever  and  ever.     Amen  (Apoc.  v.  13). 


CONFEEENOE  III. 


ON  THE  DIVINITY  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIST, 
THE  SECOND  PERSON  OF  THE  BLESSED  TRI- 
NITY. 


Doctrine  explained — Meaning  of  Terms — Essence — Generation — 
Procession — Xature — Person — Dogma  taught  by  the  Church 
— Ten  Proofs  abridged — Jesus  Christ  true  God  and  true 
Man — Common  Sense  scarce — Silly  Philosophers — Mytho- 
logy— The  Desii-ed  of  all  Nations — Greater  tlmn  Abraham — 
Typical  Characters — David  and  the  Prophets — The  Messias 
born  in  a  Stable — The  Star  of  Jacob  and  of  Araby  the 
Blest — Eachel  and  Bethlehem — Herod  and  the  unclean 
Spirits — Egypt  and  Nazareth — Comparisons — The  Widow  of 
Sarepta  and  the  Widow  of  Nairn — A  Dilemma  for  Infidels 
— Sinai — Thabor  and  Golgotha — Conversion  of  a  Malefac- 
tor, an  Infidel,  and  a  Mob — Abraham's  Faith  renewed — 
Death,  Resurrection,  and  Ascension — Jonas  and  Elias— Ye 
Men  of  Galilee — All  bear  Testimony — Immortality  on  Earth 
•  — Moral  Reflections — Emmanuel — Jehovah — Names  of  Es- 
sence belong  to  our  Lord. 


I. 

From  the  womh  hefore  the  day-star  I  hegot  thee  (Ps.  cix.) 

My  Brethren  : 

There  is  but  one  true  God,  the  Creator  and 
sovereign  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all 
tilings.     He  exists  in  three  divine  persons,  the 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  89 

Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  who 
are  all  one,  having  one  and  the  same  divine 
nature ;  and  they  are  perfectly  equal  to  each 
other  in  all  things.  The  adorable  mystery  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity  will  be  fully  explained 
when  I  shall  first  have  treated  of  the  divinity 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  second  Person, 
who  became  man  and  died  for  our  salvation. 
The  divinity  of  our  Lord  being  once  establish- 
ed, the  august  mystery  of  the  Trinity  is  virtu- 
ally proved. 

For  the  better  understanding  of  the  subject 
permit  me  to  explain  the  meaning  of  some 
terms.  Essence  means  that  wiiich  strictly  con- 
stitutes anything;  it  differs  from  nature,  which 
has  a  wider  range.  The  essence  of  man,  for 
instance,  consists  in  his  having  a  rational  soul 
united  with  a  body.  The  divine  essence  con- 
sists in  the  necessity  of  God's  existence,  which 
includes  all  perfections.  Being  is  God's  pro- 
per name,  which  is  called  in  Greek  ^^  To'  "Oy^\* 
in  Latin,  ''Ens";  and  Hebrew,  ''Jehovah." 
It  is  equivalent  to  "I  am"  in  English. 

In  God  nature,  essence,  substance,  existence 
are  all  one  because  of  His  infinite  simplicity. 
Person  is  an  intelligent,  free  principle  of  action, 
as  man.  Human  personality  differs  from  the 
divine  in  this  respect :  that  the  human  person- 


90  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

ality  implies  the  negation  of  union  with  any- 
other  subject  by  way  of  dependence  but  in  Grod. 
Person  is  not  distinct  from  the  divine  essence, 
for  each  has  the  same  divine  nature  and  the 
plenitude  of  the  undivided  Godhead ;  the  per- 
sonality alone  is  proper. 

Generation  is  an  act  by  which  a  living  being 
from  its  own  substance  produces  another  living 
being,  and  like  unto  itself,  by  virtue  of  this  act. 
Procession  in  the  Blessed  Trinity  implies  the 
origin  of  one  divine  Person  from  another,  or 
from  two,  as  one  principle,  as  the  procession  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
The  Son  is  begotten  or  born  of  the  Father.  In 
the  Blessed  Trinity  each  Person  imparts  totally 
all  that  He  is  to  another,  and  retains  but  His  per- 
sonality, wliich  is  also  imparted  virtually  but 
not  constitiitively.  The  Father  is  always  the  Fa- 
ther, the  Son  is  always  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  always  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  is  God's 
manner  of  being,  and  is  so  necessary  that  if  it 
were  different  He  would  not  exist  at  all  nor 
anything  else.  The  Son  is  the  second  divine 
Person.  His  equivalent  name  is  the  Word-— 
Yerbum  in  Latin,  Logos  in  Greek— which  means 
that  He  is  the  total,  permanent,  and  substantial 
expression  of  the  Father,  like  Him  in  everything 
and  one  with  Him.     The  names  of  Jesus  Christ, 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  91 

Messias,  Saviour,  Redeemer,  and  others,  api)er- 
tain  to  Him  because  of  the  work  of  our  redemp- 
tion which  He  accomplished. 

He  differs  in  this  respect  from  the  other  ado- 
rable Persons,  that  He  alone  became  man  for 
our  sake.  He  was  born  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
Mary  and  has  two  natures,  the  divine  and  hu- 
man, in  one  person ;  He  is  true  God  and  true 
man,  as  in  each  of  us  there  are  two  natures, 
spirit  and  matter,  united  so  intimately  as  to 
form  but  one  person — man. 

The  human  nature  of  our  Lord  being  now 
conceded,  I  will  present  to  your  consideration 
the  divine,  and  for  your  editi cation  adduce  a 
few  of  the  many  reasons  why  the  holy  Catholic 
Church,  which  He  founded,  believes  and  teaches 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  God  and  consubstantial  with 
the  Father. 

The  Arians,  the  Socinians,  and  other  unbe- 
lievers, while  conceding  Christ's  superexcel- 
lence  over  all  creatures,  denied  His  divinity. 
The  Word,  or  Son,  has  two  generations — one  in 
time,  when  He  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  the  other  eternal  and  incessant  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  divine  nature.  The  Psalmist  intro- 
duces the  Son  as  saying :  Tlie  Lord  hath  said  to 
me^  TJiou  art  my  Son.^  tliis  day  have  I  begotten 
thee  (ii.  7).     Again  :  The  Lord  said  to  my  Lord, 


92  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

.  .  .  .  From  the  wonib  'before  the  day-star  I 
begot  Thee  (Ps.  cix.)  His  generation  is  from 
the  days  of  eternity^  said  Micheas  (v.  2).  The 
eternal  generation  of  the  Son  is,  then,  i^lainly 
taught  in  Holy  Writ.  St.  John  inculcates  it 
in  the  most  clear  manner  possible :  In  the  begin- 
ning loas  the  Word,  and  the  Word  teas  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  All  tilings  were 
made  by  Him,  and  without  Him  was  nothing 
made  that  was  made  (John  i.)  When  all  things 
were  made  by  Him,  in  common  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  never  was  made,  but 
He  exists  with  and  is  born  of  the  Father  from 
eternity.  He  is  therefore  true  God,  God  Him- 
self, perfectly  equal  to  the  Father.  ''He  is  Light 
of  Light,  God  of  God,  consubstantial  with  the 
Father,"  says  the  Church  (Nicene  Creed). 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  true  God  of  mankind. 
Outside  of  Him  is  sin,  and  sorrow,  and  igno- 
rance ;  in  Him  is  light,  and  peace,  and  rest. 
Blessed  is  he  who  can  say  with  the  Church, 
I  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  equal 
to  the  Father  from  eternity  in  power,  and  wis- 
dom, and  in  all  things.  Christ  possesses  the 
treasures  of  the  Deity.  He  is  the  true  light, 
that  enlightens  every  man  that  cometJi  into  the 
world.  It  is  through  Him  only  that  he  can 
come  to  the  Father.     He  is  the  way,  the  truth. 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  93 

and  the  life.  Thrice  liappy  those  who  possess 
this  faith,  which  imparts  real  and  eternal  life. 

The  divinity  of  our  Lord  is  the  foundation  on 
which  society,  law,  and  order  rest.  Its  denial 
would  bury  tlie  world  in  darkness,  misery, 
and  vice ;  its  denial,  in  fact,  will  be  the  har- 
binger of  the  reign  of  Antichrist,  when  time  it- 
self will  cease  to  run. 

Unbelievers  deny  the  divine  nature  of  the  Son, 
thus  impugning  the  essence  of  God,  the  fecun- 
dity of  the  divine  nature,  and  effacing  from  tlie 
Supreme  Being  the  idea  of  infinite  perfection. 
That  the  Infinite  should  condescend  to  assume 
our  nature,  suffer,  and  die  is,  indeed,  a  mystery 
beyond  the  reach  of  our  understanding.  AVith- 
out  the  light  of  ^  a  divine  revelation  and  the  de- 
claration of  the  prophets,  who  foretold  the  mar- 
vellous event,  the  people  of  God  had  not  known 
it  and  the  world  had  not  been  prepared  to  re- 
ceive so  divine  a  truth.  The  malice  of  man's 
transgression  could  be  adequately  repaired  by 
no  less  a  being  than  God.  If  the  mediator  of 
our  peace  were  merely  a  man  the  mediator  him- 
self would  need  another  mediator  to  render  his 
atonement  acceptable.  It  was  necessary,  then, 
in  the  divine  counsels  that  our  mediator  should 
be  God  and  man  both.  The  character,  then, 
given  of  the  Messias  is  not  only  human  but  is 


94  THE  BLESSED   TlllNITY. 

absolutely  divine.  The  sanctity  of  our  Lord's 
maxims  and  teachings,  the  wisdom  of  His  laws, 
and  His  integrity  of  life  are  lauded  to  the  skies 
by  modern  free-thinkers.  Solon  or  Lycurgus, 
Socrates  or  Plato,  cannot  be  compared  with  Him  ; 
they  concede  to  Him  every  excellence  short  of 
divinity — that  He  was  the  greatest  benefactor 
of  the  human  race,  the  brightest  light  ever  shed 
on  this  world. 

Consistency  is  as  rare  as  common  sense.  This 
concession  illustrates  liow  every  spirit  that  raises 
itself  up  against  tlie  wisdom  and  power  of  God, 
from  Satan  down,  stultifies  itself.  Xow,  if 
Christ  is  not  God  there  never  arose  a  greater 
enemy  of  our  race,  and  He  has  firmly  planted 
on  earth  the  empire  of  Satan.  For  in  this  im- 
pious supposition  the  splendors  of  His  mission 
served  but  to  bury  the  world  in  idolatry  and 
vice,  and  incurably  corrupt  the  heart  of  man. 
The  ever-blessed  God  Himself  would  indeed  in 
that  case  be  the  author  of  this  universal  deso- 
lation. 

We  know,  according  to  the  infallible  teach- 
ings of  the  Church,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  God 
and  the  beginning  and  the  end  of  all  things. 
One  of  the  first  proofs  of  His  divinity  is  that 
He  was  promised  to  the  human  race  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world.      Adam  was  consoled 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  95 

with  a  promise  tliat  his  transgression  wouhl  be 
repaired,  and  he  beheld  from  afar  the  Redeemer 
whom  his  disobedience  made  necessaiy  to  his 
race.  It  was  to  prepare  for  His  coming  that 
empires  rose  and  fell  for  four  thousand  years. 
He  was  the  main  object  of  all  important  events. 
Babylon  and  Macedon  and  Rome,  Cyrus  and 
Ci^sar,  the  Pentateuch  and  the  lliad^  all  the 
arts  .and  sciences,  and  the  tide  of  time  itself, 
wore  their  face  to  the  dawn  and  rising  of  the 
Star  of  Hoi^e  that  consoled  Job  in  all  his  af- 
flictions. He  was  foretold  by  all  the  prophets, 
typified  by  all  the  figures,  foreshadowed  by  all 
the  sacriiices  of  the  Old  Law.  Jesus  was  the 
end  of  all  things. 

From  among  all  the  nations  of  the  earth 
God  selects  a  particular  people  to  be  the  de- 
pository of  this  great  j^romise.  He  makes  them 
the  sacerdotal  caste  of  the  human  race ;  He 
places  in  their  hands  the  badges  of  their  au- 
thority, and  besides  leaves  the  world  to  learn 
from  them  all  correct  information  regarding  this 
wide-spread  hoi)e  which  first  fell  on  the  human 
heart  and  reminded  the  sad  exile  of  his  lost 
loaradise.  On  the  dispersion  of  the  human  race 
from  the  plains  of  Sennaar  each  family  took 
with  them  some  seedlings  of  this  precious  plant 
and  bequeathed  them  to  their  descendants  as  a 


96  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

sacred  trust.  But  tliey  were  soon  disfigured, 
degenerating  into  fond  fables,  and  were  sub- 
verted to  the  worst  passions.  Yet  there  is  no 
mythology  so  dark  that  it  does  not  contain  the 
promise  of  some  forfeited  golden  age ;  and  one 
pagan  fable  records  that  of  all  the  treasures 
which  man  received  at  his  birth  from  Heaven 
hope  alone  was  left  when  he  had  lost  all  be- 
sides. Darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death  brood- 
ed over  the  face  of  the  globe  until  it  became  a 
wide  Haceldama  of  violence  and  crime  that  call- 
ed for  another  deluge  or  a  restorer.  All  things, 
says  the  apostle,  groaned  and  labored  to  bring 
forth  tJie  Promise.  The  saints  implored  the 
heavens  to  ojpen  and  the  clouds  to  rain  down 
the  just  one  (Isaias  xlv.) 

Cyrus  and  the  Ba^Dtist  were  honored  each  by 
a  particular  prediction,  but  only  in  reference 
to  Him  who  was  to  come,  and  that  the  fulfil- 
ment of  proximate  events  should  confirm  the 
truth  of  all  that  was  foretold  of  the  Messias. 
He  was  promised  from  the  beginning ;  typified 
by  an  entire  people  ;  expected  by  all  ages ;  all 
the  just,  like  Henoch,  walked  in  the  brightness 
of  this  faith ;  parents  taught  their  children  to 
lisp  it  until  it  became  the  belief  of  the  whole 
world,  j)ropagated  from  age  to  age,  and  the 
very  oracles  of  the  Gentiles,   whether  at  Mem- 


THIED   CONFEKENCE.  97 

non  or  at  the  fountains  of  Egeria,  muttered 
the  marvellous  event. 

He  was  hailed,  not  for  an  isolated  purpose, 
but  as  the  salvation  of  the  human  race,  the 
legislator  of  all  ages,  the  light  of  all  nations, 
the  one  wlio  would  destroy  and  take  away  the 
sins  of  the  world,  fill  the  earth  with  the  Spiiit 
of  God,  and  bring  down  everlasting  peace. 
What  a  magnificent  preparation ! 

Proi:)hecy  is  the  foretelling  of  some  future 
event  which  could  be  known  to  God  only.  It 
is  an  infallible  criterion  of  truth.  Every  event, 
every  personage,  every  verse  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment are  all  prophetic  or  typical,  and  must  be 
fulfilled  in  the  New.  Tlie  heavens  and  the 
earth  shall  pass  aioa?/,  but  not  an  iota  shall 
pass  aioay  until  all  is  fulfilled,  I  present  a 
few  of  these  prophecies ;  each  is  conclusive  evi- 
dence of  the  truth. 

A  Child  is  horn  to  us^  and  a  Son  is  given  to 
us,  and  the  government  is  upon  his  shoulders ; 
and  His  name  shall  he  called  Wonderful,  Coun- 
sellor, God,  the  Mighty,  the  Father  of  the  world 
to  come,  the  Prince  of  Peace  (Isaias  ix.  6).  Be- 
hold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive,  and  hear  a  Son, 
and  His  name  shall  he  called  Emmanuel  (that 
is,  God  with  us)  (Isaias  vii.  14).  Micheas  says  : 
Out  of  thee,  O  Bethlehem,  shall  He  come  forth 


98  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

unto  me  that  is  to  he  the  ruler  in  Israel^  and 
His  going  forth  is  from  the  beginning ^  from 
the  days  of  eternity  (cli.  v.)  Here  is  plainly 
foretold  the  birtli  of  a  wonderful  Child,  the  son 
of  a  spotless  Virgin,  born  in  Bethlehem  and  de- 
clared to  have  an  existence  from  eternity.  The 
Child  Jesus  is  God  ;  for  none  but  God  is  eternal. 
To  sound  reason  it  will  always  be  clear  that  these 
and  other  predictions  are  too  well  authenticated 
to  be  doubted,  too  explicit  to  be  misunderstood, 
and  too  ]3alpably  verified  in  the  person  of  Christ 
not  to  be  assented  to. 

All  the  renowned  men  of  former  times,  the 
saints  under  both  the  patriarchal  and  levitical 
law  whose  greatness  amazed  mankind,  were  but 
types,  but  prophetic  characters,  individually  and 
collectively,  but  images  of  Christ,  and  each  fore- 
shadowed but  one  feature  of  His  life  and  minis- 
try— Abel,  His  death  ;  Melchisedech,  His  priest- 
hood ;  Job,  His  afflictions ;  Abraham,  His  pa- 
ternity ;  Moses  and  Aaron,  His  ministry  ;  Solo- 
mon, His  wisdom.  Great  must  He  be  when  a 
bare  shadow  of  but  one  of  His  prerogatives  made 
the  man  who  bore  it,  like  the  prophet's  mantle, 
the  wonder  of  all  ages.  If  not  God,  our  Lord 
could  not  claim  to  be  greater  than  His  figurative 
representatives. 

Was  He  greater  than  Abraham — that  chief  so 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  99 

renowned  that  the  Hebrew  nation  believed  them- 
selves superior  to  all  other  peoi)le  because  they 
were  the  children  of  Abraham ;  that  patriarch 
so  illustrious  that,  with  all  His  magnificent  titles, 
Jehovah  took  the  additional  title  of  the  God  of 
Abraham  to  show  that  the  homage  of  a  man 
so  holy  was  as  honorable  to  His  Sovereignty  as 
the  title  of  the  God  of  armies  and  of  empires  ? 
Was  He  more  wonderful  than  Moses — that  man 
powerful  in  word  and  work,  the  mediator  of  a 
new  alliance ;  the  good  of  Pharao,  who  broke  the 
yoke  of  Egypt,  saved  His  people,  fed  them  from 
heaven  ;  nature's  lord,  who  spoke  to  God  on  the 
holy  mountain  and  appeared  before  all  Israel 
brilliant  with  glory?  Now,  if  He  was  not  the 
everlasting  God  He  did  equal  His  types,  and  the 
Jews  may  have  asked  witliout  impiety,  Art  thoy, 
greater  than  our  father  Abraham  and  the  pro- 
p7iets  who  are  dead?  He  was  the  reality  of 
every  fleeting  shadow,  and  the  combined  great- 
ness of  all  centred  in  Him  like  streams  in  the 
ocean. 

Collecting  all  these  mii-acnlous  characters, 
types,  figures,  sacrifices,  histories,  forming  the 
prophetic  movement  of  the  world  during  four 
thousand  years,  the  preparation  is  so  magnifi- 
cent that  if  Christ,  its  object,  were  but  a  great 
man  merely,  God  Himself,  who  had  ushered  Him 


100  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

in  with  so  much  glory,  is  Himself  the  author  of 
the  error  of  all  who  have  adored  Christ  for  nine- 
teen centuries  as  God.  Far  be  it  from  any  hu- 
man heart  to  make  the  All-Holy  the  author  of 
sin !  Jesus  Christ  is  true  God  ;  the  Father  and 
He  are  one  ;  He  is  the  Second  Person  of  the 
adorable  Trinity. 

The  prophecies  are  fulfilled.     The  Messias  is 
born  on  earth,  at  the  hour  of  midnight,  and  in  a 
stable,  as  had  been  spoken  by  the  prophets  in- 
spired by  God.     The  cradle  of  Him  who  sur- 
rounded His  tomb  with  glory  and  with  the  w^on- 
ders  of  His  magnificence  witnesses  the  most  stu- 
pendous miracles.     Angels  fill  the  midnight  air 
with  hymns  of  joy,   announcing  glory  to   God 
and  peace  to  man.     A  star  of  great  brilliancy  ap 
pears  in  the  East   and  rests  over  Judea.     The 
three  Chaldean  sages,   recognizing  this  as   tlie 
star  foretold  by  the  prophet,  faithful  to  its  voice 
and  still  more  to  the  instructions  of  divine  grace 
^vhich  moved   their  hearts,   have  set  out  from 
their  country  and  now  cast  their  diadems  at  the 
feet  of  Him  whom  they  adore  as  God,   despite 
His  humiliations  and  poverty.     A  cruel  and  jeal- 
ous king,  apx)rehensive  for  his  own  life  and  for 
his  kingdom,  attempts  to  destroy  the  new-born 
Child.     Piotected  by  Omnipotence  from  all  the 
malicious  plots,  the  Child  escapes  the  massacre 


THIRD   COl^FERENCE.  101 

of  the  male  cliildren  of  Bethlehem  and  the  vici- 
nity, and  passes  His  first  years  in  Egypt.  By  a 
fresh  command  He  returns  to  His  native  laud 
and  remains  subject  and  obedient  to  His  parents 
until  His  thirtieth  year. 

Reaching  the  age  of  maturity,  He  stands  be- 
fore the  world,  begins  His  public  mission,  pro- 
claims His  kingdom,  preaches  His  doctrine,  es- 
tablishes the  Church,  institutes  the  sacraments, 
and  confirms  all  by  His  miracles,  and  proves  to 
all  ages,  present  and  future,  that  He  is  God, 
the  Creator  of  all  things  and  the  Redeemer  of 
the  world.  The  prophecies  which  foretold  Him, 
the  miracles  which  preceded  and  accompanied 
His  birth,  the  prodigies  which  He  wrought,  and 
all  the  miracles  attendant  on  His  sufferings  and 
death  on  the  cross  prove  the  fact  still  more  for- 
cibly. The  sublimity  of  His  doctrines  and  of 
His  moral  code,  the  manner  in  which  He  estab- 
lishes them  and  in  which  He  confirms  them,  the 
sanctity  of  His  life,  His  promises,  the  estab- 
lishment and  preservation  of  His  Church,  are 
eacli  and  all  palpable  evidences  of  the  fact  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  God  who  made  us,  our  Sove- 
reign Lord  and  Master,  and  the  Judge  of  the 
living  and  the  dead. 

John  the  Baptist,  the  greatest  of  all  men,  de- 
clared himself  unworthy  to  perform  even  the 


102  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

most  menial  offices  for  Him.  No  sooner,  in  fact, 
is  Jesus  Christ  baptized  in  tlie  Jordan  tlian  the 
heavens  are  opened,  and  the  Holy  Gfhost  de- 
scends upon  Him  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  while 
the  voice  of  the  Eternal  Father  declares  Him  to 
be  His  Son.  The  unclean  spirits  owned  His 
power,  and  by  the  mouths  of  the  possessed  de- 
clare Him  to  be  God. 

I  present  in  an  abridged  form  ten  of  the  prin- 
cipal arguments  by  which  is  proved  unanswer- 
ably our  Lord's  divinity  : 

First.  It  is  proved  by  the  many  places  in 
Scripture  where  our  blessed  Lord  is  absolutely 
called  Grod :  And  His  name  sliall  he  called  Em- 
manuel (Isaias  vii.  14).  St.  Matthew  applies  this 
to  Christ  (i.  23) :  Which  means^  God  with  us. 
In  the  same  place  (Isaias  ix.  6)  it  is  added :  His 
name  shall  he  called  Wonderful,  Oounsellor, 
God^  the  Mighty^  the  Father  of  the  world  to 
come,  and  the  Prince  of  Peace.  The  name  they 
shall  call  Him,  the  Lord  our  just  one  {Jehovah) 
(Jer.  xxiii.  6).  The  Word  was  made  flesh  and 
dwelt  amongst  us  (John  i.  14).  My  Lord  and 
my  God,  said  St.  Thomas  (John  xx.  28).  He  is 
true  God  and  life  eternal  (1  John  v.  20). 
God  blessed  for  ever  (Hom.  ix.  5).  The  great 
God  and  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  (Titus  ii.  13). 
He  is  called  by  the  name  of  essence,  Elohim — 


THIRD   CONFERElSrCE.-  103 

Jehovah— (Isaias  xxxv.)  Here  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing instances  I  must  limit  my  quotations 
in  the  interests  of  conciseness  ;  one  text  is  abun- 
dant. 

Secondly.  Our  Lord's  divinity  is  proved  from 
the  conviction  of  the  Jews  that  He  asserted  it, 
and  which  He  coniirmed.  If  misunderstood 
He  would  have  made  the  correction,  as  He 
always  did ;  how  much  more  necessary  to  do 
so  in  this  instance !  For  this  assertion  of 
His  divinity  was  the  ostensible  cause  of  His 
death.  He  i)romises  to  bestow  eternal  life,  the 
same  as  the  Father,  and  adds :  /  and  the  Father 
are  one  (John  x.)  His  opponents  attempted 
to  stone  Him  for  blasphemy,  and  common  hon- 
esty would  have  required  Him  to  disavow  His 
words  if  He  were  not  God.  It  is  clear  that 
He  was  not  understood,  in  that  broad  sense  in 
which  prophets  and  good  men  are  called  gods 
and  the  sons  of  God.  The  Jews  sought  to  kill 
Him  because  He  said  that  God  was  His  Father, 
making  Himself  equal  to  God  {ibid.)  Whatever 
the  Father  does  He  does.  As  the  Father  rais- 
eth  up  the  dead  and  giveth  life,  so  the  Son  also. 
Neither  doth  the  Father  judge  any  man,  hid 
hath  given  all  judgment  to  the  Son  (John  v. 
19-21).  It  was  on  this  charge  that  He  was  made 
prisoner  and  was  tried  in  public  court  by  the 


104  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

Mgh-priest,  wlio  adjured  Him  'by  the  name  of 
tlie  limng  God  that  thou  tell  us  if  thou  he  the 
Christy  the  Son  of  God  (Matt.  xxvi.  63).  Our 
Lord  not  only  answers  aflBlrmatively,  but  He 
claims  the  highest  prerogative  of  supreme  domi- 
nion. He  will  come  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  to 
judge  the  living  and  the  dead.  The  high-priest 
rent  his  garments^  saying^  He  hath  hlaspliemed  ; 
and  they  all  judged  Him  worthy  of  death.  They 
forced  Pilate  to  execute  the  sentence. 

Thirdly,  It  is  proved  by  the  testimony  of  the 
Father  on  the  Jordan :  This  is  my  beloved  Son 
(Matt.  iii.  17),  on  Thabor  (Luke  ix.  35),  before 
the  Gentiles  (John  »ii.  38). 

Fourthly.  By  the  texts  attributing  the  divine 
nature  to  our  Lord :  In  the  name  of  Jesus 
every  Jcnee  shall  hoio^  and  every  tongue  should 
confess  that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  in  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father  (Phil.  ii.  10,  11).  Tlie 
fulness'  of  the  Divinity  dwells  bodily  in  Him 
(Col.  i.  23). 

Fifthly,  The  many  testimonies  that  attribute 
all  the  divine  works  and  perfections  to  our  Lord 
prove  Him  to  be  God.  He  claims  as  His  own  all 
that  the  Father  has,  and  that  they  hold  aU  things 
in  common  (John  xvi.  15).  This  in  a  creature 
would  be  an  impious  usurpation.  The  crea- 
tion of  an  things  from  nothing  and  their  pre- 


TIIIED    CONFERENCE.  105 

s^rvation  are  His  works  (John  i. ;  Heb.  i.  3,  10). 
Eternity,  immortality,  immutability  appertain  to 
Him.  These  words  of  the  Psalmist  are  ax)plied 
by  St.  Paul  to  Christ :  Thou  shall  change  them^ 
and  they  shall  he  changed;  hut  Thou  art  the 
self- same,  and  TJiy  years  shall  not  fail  (Heb. 
i.  12).  Jesus  Christ  yesterday,  and  to-day;  and 
the  same  for  ever  (ib.  xiii.  8).  He  is  omniscient ; 
He  knows  man's  heart  and  thoughts  :  Thou 
Jcnowest  all  things  (John  xxi.  17).  He  is  om- 
nipotent. Alpha  and  Omega,  the  heginning  and 
the  end,  who  is  and  who  was  and  who  is  to  come 
(Apoc.  i.  8).  He  in  many  places  claims  omni- 
presence, and  declares  that  He  has  His  mansion 
equally  with  the  Father  in  the  souls  of  the  just 
(Matt,  xviii.  20).  He  will  be  with  His  ministers 
wherever  they  are,  and  all  days  even  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  world  (Matt,  xxviii.  20). 

.  II. 
Sixthly,  St.  Peter  and  the  disciples  confessed 
Jesus  Christ  to  be,  not  the  adopted,  but  the  true 
and  natural  Son  of  God :  Thou  art  Christ,  the 
Son  of  the  limng  God  (Matt.  xvi.  16).  Jesus  is 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  (1  John  i.  3).  /  helieve 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God  (Acts  viii. 
87).  None  can  be  saved  who  does  not  believe 
that  Christ  is  God  (John  iii.  18).  He  who  be- 
9 


106  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

lievetli  in  Him  liatli  life  everlasting;  but  lie 
who  is  incredulous  shall  not  see  life^  l)ut  the 
wrath  of  God  dbideth  on  him  (ib.  iii.  36).  Our 
Lord  demanded  faith  in  Himself  from  the  man 
who  was  born  blind :  Dost  thou  Relieve  in  the 
Son  of  God?  I  believe,  Lord;  and  falling 
down  he  adored  Him  (ib.  ix.  35,  38). 

Seventhly.  His  adoration  as  God  is  often  de- 
manded, that  all  may  honor  the  Son  as  they 
honor  the  Father  (John  v.  23).  Emry  knee 
shall  hend  before  Him  (Phil.  xi.  10).  All  the 
angels  of  God  shall  adore  Him  (Heb.  i.  6).  All 
creatures  shall  woi'ship  Him  in  the  same  manner 
as '  the  Father  :  To  Him  who  sitteth  on  the 
throne,  and  to  tlie  Lamb,  be  benediction  and 
honor  and  glory  and  power  for  ever  and  ever 
(Apoc.  V.  13). 

Eighthly.  Our  Lord's  divinity  is  still  further 
established  by  the  many  miracles  which  He  per- 
formed in  His  own  name  and  by  His  own  power. 
He  frequently  attributed  these  miracles  to  the 
Father  as  well  as  to  Himself,  in  order  to  incul- 
cate the  unity  of  natures  and  the  distinction  of 
persons.  Tliese  miracles  were  wrought  to  con- 
firm His  doctrines,  especially  His  divinity.  He 
conferred  the  same  power  on  the  apostles,  to  be 
used  at  their  discretion. 

JSintlily.  Our  blessed  Lord's  divine  nature  is, 


TIIIKD   CONFERENCE  107 

moreover,  vindicated  by  the  titles  which  He 
claims  for  Himself  :  lam  the  way^  and  the  truths 
and  the  life  (John  xiv.  6).  /  am  the  light  of 
the  world  (ib.  viii.  12).  I  am  the  resurrection 
and  the  life  (ib.  xi.  25). 

Tenthly,  The  Redeemer  promises  eternal  life 
by  His  own  right  and  title  :  /  gi^e  them  life 
everlasting  (John  x.  28).  /  will  raise  him  up 
in  the  last  day  (John  vi.  55).  Here  it  is  proved 
that  He  is  the  Lord  of  death  and  life.  The 
apostle  declares  that  in  Him  only  is  salvation. 
There  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  whereby 
we  must  be  saved  (Acts  iv.  12). 

In  several  places  He  is  called  the  Son^  the  Be- 
gotten^ the  Only- Begotten  Son  of  God^  which  can- 
not be  understood  of  an  adopted  son  or  of  a  sim- 
ply just  and  good  man,  but  only  of  the  eternal 
and  substantial  Son  of  God,  the  Second  Person 
of  the  blessed  Trinity.  In  one  or  two  instances 
He  insinuates  the  superiority  of  the  Father  ;  but 
this  has  reference  to  His  human  nature  only, 
surely  inferior  to  the  divine  and  uncreated. 
SJioio  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us,  said  St. 
Philip.  0  Philip  /  said  Jesus,  how  long  am  I 
witli  you,  and  you  know  me  not  ?  He  who  seeth 
me  seetli  my  Father.  .  ,  .  The  Fatlier  and  1 
are  one. 

We  are  connected  with  Adam  bv  an  uninter- 


108  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

rupted  cliain  of  prophets,  and  not  a  link  will 
be  missing  until  the  second  coming*  of  the  Mes- 
sias.  The  first  are  onr  fathers  in  the  faith  ; 
many  of  them  seemed  the  very  depositaries  of 
omnipotent  power.  Samson  before  the  gates  of 
Gaza,  Josue  at  the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  and 
Moses  at  the  Eed  Sea  appeared  to  wield  uncre- 
ated might.  But  upon  a  close  inspection,  in 
their  very  strength  even  was  exhibited  their 
dependence,  despite  the  external  eclat  of  the 
work.  Jesus  Christ  never  displayed  the  im- 
perfection of  dependence,  necessary  in  the  crea- 
ture but  not  necessary  in  Him  as  God.  All 
His  miraculous  works  were  exempt  from  this 
feature  ;  and  it  was  here  that  the  least  of  His 
works  was  greater  and  more  perfect  than  the 
mightiest  works  of  those  renowned  men. 

By  his  rod  Moses  wrought  all  his  miracles  ; 
without  it  he  was  as  weak  as  any  man  in  the 
tents  of  Israel.  Our  Lord  performed  the  most 
stupendous  miracles  without  speaking  a  word  ; 
the  touch  of  the  hem  of  His  garment  cured  the 
most  inveterate  diseases.  True,  Elias  raised  the 
dead  to  life ;  yet  see  the  struggle,  the  death- 
agony  of  his  emaciated  frame  as  he  crouches 
over  the  remains  of  the  dead  boy.  He  holds 
not  the  key  of  life  and  death.  But  the  Son  of 
Mary  raised  the    dead  to  life  as   easily  as   He 


TIIIED   CONFERENCE.  109 

performed  the  most  ordinary  actions.  All  things 
live  to  Him.  The  dead  listen  to  Him  and  hear 
Bis  voice  as  attentively  as  the  living.  The  slum- 
ber of  an  infant  is  not  more  readily  broken  than 
was  the  cold  sleep  of  the  ruler's  daughter  and 
of  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Naim.  At  the  first 
sound  of  the  voice  of  Jesus  the  myriad  dead  will 
start  to  life  as  readily  as  creation  had  risen  from 
nothing  at  his^a^.  Such  is  the  omnipotence  of 
our  Lord ;  His  works  wear  no  mark  of  depen- 
dence. 

History  paints  her  sibyls  and  pythonesses  as 
frenzied  while  uttering  their  guessing  omcles. 
Even  the  prophets  of  God,  when  reading  the 
future,  were  seized  with  a  holy  enthusiasm,  but 
without  detriment  to  reason  or  propriety.  In 
some  instances  prophecy  awoke  at  the  sound  of 
the  lyre.  Evidently  the  secrets  of  the  future 
were  not  drawn  from  the  depths  of  theii*  own 
soul. 

Our  Lord  prophesied  as  He  spoke.  The  mys- 
teries hidden  in  the  womb  of  time  were  not 
sudden  lights  poured  on  His  mind,  nor  did 
they  thrill  by  their  startling  revelations.  To 
His  all-seeing  eye  they  were  the  most  familiar 
objects.  The  city  of  David  trodden  to  the  dust, 
her  priests  and  maidens  sold  into  slavery,  the 
last  day,  the  sentence  of  doom,  and  the   fiery 


110  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

abyss — nothing  conld  disturb  the  tranquillity  of 
His  mind  but  tlie  siglit  of  sin,  as  manifested  at 
the  grave  of  Lazarus,  an  image  of  a  soul  dead 
to  the  grace  of  God. 

Whenever  the  inspired  writers  mentioned  the 
omnipotent  Ruler  of  heaven  and  earth,  oppressed 
with  the  magnificence  of  the  subject,  after  ex- 
hausting the  power  of  language  they  would 
seize  upon  imagery  in  order  to  convey  their 
conceptions.  They  justly  represent  God  as 
poising  the  world  on  three  fingers^  holding  the 
seas  in  His  hand^  walking  on  the  winds,  and 
grasping  the  lightning.  When  our  Lord  speaks 
to  His  Father  He  uses  only  the  plain  and  famil- 
iar language  of  a  son.  His  language  is,  lioly 
Father,  just  Father,  He  speaks  on  equal 
terms,  and  He  uses  calm  and  familiar  expres- 
sions, as  one  accustomed  to  the  crown  and  scep- 
tre of  his  Father. 

Although  Moses  did  not  transmit  the  miracu- 
lous power  to  his  descendants,  and  although 
he  did  not  possess  the  divine  power  of  remit- 
ting sins,  claiming  no  higher  distinction  than 
of  being  the  humble  servant  of  God,  he  yet 
took  every  precaution  that  after  death  his  re- 
mains should  not  be  an  occasion  of  idolatry  to 
his  people.  He  died  alone  and  was  buried  in 
one    of   the   mountains  of   Moab,  and  no  man 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  Ill 

knowetli  his  grave  to  tliis  day.  Content  with 
having  left  the  law  to  the  people,  he  sought 
oblivion  for  himself  as  far  as  possible. 

Now,  after  four  thousand  years  of  waiting, 
after  the  i)erforraance  of  numberless  prodigies, 
after  His  resurrection  from  the  dead,  our  Lord 
willed  that  His  tomb  should  be  exposed  to  the 
veneration  of  the  universe  for  all  future  time. 
Tliis  tomb  became  the  shrine  of  holy  pilgrimage 
for  nineteen  centuries,  and  the  swords  of  Eu- 
rope and  Asia  disputed  its  possession  for  ages. 

Because  one  single  prediction — that  of  Mala- 
chias — distinguished  the  Bax)tist,  John  wrought 
no  miracle  in  behalf  of  the  multitudes  whom  the 
rej^utation  of  liis  sanctity  had  gathered  about 
him  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  But  he  de- 
clared himself  unworthy  to  perform  the  hum- 
blest office  for  the  Son  of  God.  If  our  Lord  is 
not  God  He  manifested  less  zeal  for  the  divine 
honor  than  Moses  or  the  Baptist  or  the  saints. 
Not  content  with  declaring  Himself  equal  to  the 
Father,  He  affirms  that  all  the  worJcs  wrought 
hy  God  are  His  worlis  also.  No  prophet  ever 
spoke  in  this  manner.  Instead  of  giving  glory 
to  God  for  every  good  and  perfect  gift,  Jesus 
Christ  attributes  them  to  Himself  as  their  au- 
thor. 

The  Old  Law  was  delivered  on  Sinai  and  was 


112  THE   BLESSED   TEINITY. 

there  sanctioned  ;  the  New  Law  was  sanction- 
ed on  Mount  Thabor.  Accompanied  by  Peter, 
James,  and  John,  our  Lord  ascended  the  moun- 
tain. His  face  shone  like  the  sun  and  His  gar- 
ments became  white  as  snow.  There  appeared 
Moses  and  Elias,  speaking  to  Him  on  the  ex- 
cesses which  He  would  suffer  in  Jerusalem. 
Heaven  institutes  the  comparison,  and  the  mis- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ  is  put  to  the  test.  If  not 
true  it  becomes  obligatory  on  the  Most  High 
to  admonish  the  trembling  disciples  that  this 
Jesus  is  only  His  envoy,  lest  we  may  fall  into 
error,  and  especially,  when  resplendent  in  glory, 
both  the  law  and  the  prophets  bear  Him  testi- 
mony in  the  persons  of  their  gi^eatest  representa- 
tives. 

In  the  former  instance,  when  the  meek  son  of 
Amram  was  summoned  to  the  mount,  God  treat- 
ed with  him  as  His  servant  and  ambassador. 
Lest  Israel,  terrified  on  the  plain,  shoiild-  mis- 
take Moses  for  God  descended  upon  earth,  the 
Lord,  in  a  voice  of  thunder  that  rent  the  rocks 
of  the  desert,  proclaimed  :  /  am  who  am^  and 
none  'but  me  shall  you  adore.  Moses  came  down 
bearing  between  his  hands  the  law  written  on 
two  tablets,  and  he  presented  it  ministerially  to 
the  people  for  their  acceptance. 

AU  nations  to  the  day  of  doom  are  gathered 


THIRD   CONFERENCE.  113 

in  spirit  round  Thabor  and  hear  the  sanction. 
Every  eye  is  looking,  every  ear  is  listening,  all 
hearts  are  throbbing.  Jesns  Christ  is  presented, 
not  as  the  minister,  but  as  the  Son  of  God — 
Himself  the  legislator  and  the  author  of  the 
law.  No  command  is  given  Him.  One  with 
the  Father,  He  is  presented  to  all  mankind  as 
Himself  the  supreme  and  eternal  law.  TJiis  is 
my  beloved  Soti:    hear  Him  (Luke  ix.) 

If  from  Thabor  we  pass  over  to  Calvary,  where 
all  His  indignities  were  completed,  it  is  no  less 
the  theatre  of  His  glory  and  the  vindication  of 
His  divinity.  Here  were  fulfilled  all  prophecies, 
all  truth  was  manifested,  all  miracles  were  re- 
newed, and  all  the  attributes  of  the  Almighty 
displayed.  The  cross,  the  instniment  of  shame, 
became  the  chair  of  doctrine,  the  throne  of  the 
eternal  and  ever-blessed  Trinity.  All  the  uni- 
verse mourned  and  it  felt  the  shock  to  its  cen- 
tre when  its  Author  hung  dying  and  bleeding 
on  the  cross.  The  sun  was  darkened,  the  earth 
trembled,  the  dead  arose,  the  veil  of  the  Temple 
was  rent  from  top  to  bottom.  All  things  pro- 
claimed that  it  was  no  mere  mortal  man  that 
perished  on  that  mountain. 

His  omnipotence  is  manifested  more  by  His 
action  on  the  souls  of  men  than  even  by  all  the 
external  wonders.      He    instantly  converts   the 


114  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

most  obdurate  and  heartless  sinnei^s.  One  was 
a  death  bed  conversion — a  dying  malefactor,  who 
had  lived  all  his  life  without  God  and  was  blas- 
pheming almost  to  his  last  breath.  The  other 
was  an  infidel,  a  gentleman,  a  scholar,  and  a  Ro- 
man ofiicer,  educated,  like  men  of  his  rank,  in 
the  first  schools  in  Rome  or  Athens,  and  sneer- 
ing at  all  religions  with  the  growing  philosophy 
of  the  former  reign — a  reign  when  religious  senti- 
ment and  morals  perished  in  the  empire  and  left 
an  outward  decency  only.  Yere  hio  Filius 
Dei  erat,  exclaimed  the  centurion.  The  third 
conversion  was,  if  possible,  more  miraculous  still. 
It  was  that  of  the  mob  who  had  poured  out  from 
the  purlieus  of  the  city  to  witness  a  public  exe- 
cution— three  of  them— which  had  the  fascination 
of  the  circus  and  of  the  gladiatorial  combats  for 
the  sweltering  rabble.  And  all  the  multitude 
of  tliem  that  were  come  together  to  that  sights 
and  saw  the  things  that  were  done,  returned 
striMng  their  breasts  (Luke  xxiii.  48).  The 
conversion  of  one  sinner  is  a  greater  work  than 
the  creation  of  the  world. 

Many  just  and  holy  men  had  borne  testimony 
to  the  truth  by  the  shedding  of  their  blood. 
Human  elevation,  less  than  even  obscurity,  is 
no  shield  against  the  sufferings  that  always  ac- 
company virtue   and  merit,    and  they  are  the 


THIRD   CONFEREXCE.  115 

portion  of  the  saints  on  earth.  From  Abel  to 
Zacharias  many  had  died  for  righteousness' 
sake.  Nature  silently  wept  over  their  wrongs, 
waiting  patiently  for  the  day  of  final  retribu- 
tion. Now,  for  the  first  time,  the  forgotten  dead 
indignantly  started  from  their  time-worn  tombs 
and  reproached  the  living  for  the  dread  God- 
man.  The  world  had  perpetrated  its  enormous 
sin :  it  had  crucified  its  Creator ! 

To  atone  for  our  sins,  and  to  repair  the  dis- 
honor cast  on  God,  Jesus  bowed  His  head  in 
death.  Because  of  the  union  of  the  human 
and  divine  natures  in  the  person  of  Christ  all 
that  pertains  to  God  belongs  to  Him,  and  all 
that  is  peculiar  to  Him  as  man  must  be  as- 
serted of  God.  God  was  born  for  us,  He  suf- 
fered for  us,  and  He  died  for  us.  For  Jesus 
Christ  is  infinite  and  eternal :  He  is  God.  Was 
the  faith  of  the  penitent  thief  inferior  to  that 
of  Abraham  ?  Blessed  are  they  icJio  loill  not  he 
scandalized  in  me. 

But  death  was  soon  compelled  to  yield  the 
victory  and  acknowledge  the  glorious  triumph 
of  our  Lord.  On  the  third  day  He  rose  again 
by  his  own  power,  as  had  been  foretold  by 
Himself  and  by  the  prophets.  The  seal  of  Tibe- 
rius, the  Roman  empire,  could  not  prevent  it ; 
and  Tiberius  himself  had  the  honesty  to  con- 


116  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

fess  it,  desiring  to  enroll  Jesus  Christ  among 
the  Roman  gods.  Jesus  rose,  not  as  Lazarus 
and  others,  who  had  been  resuscitated  by  exter- 
nal power  and  soon  returned  to  the  grave — Je- 
sus Christ  arose  as  the  author  and  principle  of 
life,  to  die  no  more.  What  had  never  been 
granted  to  man  He  possessed — immortality  on 
earth.  For  forty  days  He  conversed  with  His 
apostles,  ate  and  drank  with  them,  as  he  had 
done  previously. 

By  the  same  inherent  power  He  ascended 
into  heaven  without  external  aid.  ISTo  angel, 
no  fiery  chariot  is  there,  as  in  the  case  of  Elias. 
Received  into  His  eternal  empire  by  the  hea- 
venly host.  He  despatches  two  of  the  celestial 
messengers  to  console  His  mourning  disciples, 
and  to  promise  them  and  us  that  at  another 
day  He  will  come  in  the  same  manner  in 
which  we  saw  Him  depart. 

The  ascent  of  Elias  from  Horeb  was  witness- 
ed only  by  the  prophet  Eliseus,  lest  any  one 
not  so  well  instructed  might  believe  him  to  be 
God.  Jesus  Christ  ascended  in  the  presence 
of  ^ve  hundred  disciples,  who  accompany  Him 
with  their  homage  and  their  sorrows  at  His  de- 
parture. A  termination  so  sublime  to  a  life  of 
surpassing  greatness  would  immortalize  idola- 
try and  utterly  destroy  all  religion,  if  our  Lord 


THIRD   COi^FERENCE.  117 

was  .not  God — especially  at  a  time  when  men  wor- 
shipped impostors  and  the  legislators  whom  the 
fancy  of  the  poets  immortalized  for  the  purpose 
of  flattering  the  people  by  persuading  them  that 
Heaven  liad  sanctioned  their  acts  and  their  laws. 

Jesus  Christ  is  true  God  and  true  man — a  fact 
taught  by  the  Church  at  all  times  and  for  nine- 
teen centuries,  under  the  sword  of  the  persecu- 
tors, and  in  witness  of  which  many  millions  of 
her  children  died  in  all  manner  of  torments. 
The  Eternal  Father,  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  angels, 
the  patriarchs,  the  prophets,  the  apostles,  the 
saints,  the  living  and  the  dead,  the  unclean  spi- 
rits, the  universe,  all  nature,  establish  this  grand 
and  astounding  mystery  beyond  the  reach  of  ra- 
tional doubt.  Lost  to  all  sense  of  sliame  and 
human  reason  must  be  he  who  is  capable  of  de- 
nying so  authentic  a  fact — a  fact  which  civi- 
lization and  the  very  name  of  Christianity  so 
plainly  establish. 

As  living  members  of  Jesus  Christ  we  also 
were  predicted  with  Him  and  are  made  sharers 
of  His  sui^reme  dominion  over  all  creatures.  A 
Christian  is  superior  to  nature ;  all  things  are 
subject  to  him,  for  he  is  subject  to  God  only. 
All  a  Christian's  good  works  are,  in  a  sense, 
miraculous,  for  they  spring  from  a  princii^le  su- 
perior to  nature  and  to  human  weakness. 


118  THE  BLESSED  TEIN^ITY. 

We,  tlien,  must  be  miraculous — masters  of  the 
world  by  despising  it,  elevated  above  nature's 
laws  by  subduing  them,  arbiters  of  our  destiny 
by  submitting  to  the  will  of  God,  stronger  than 
death  by  desiring  it,  to  be  united  with  our 
head,  Christ  Jesus.  Look  over  the  face  of  the 
Church  in  all  ages ;  look  at  her  pontiffs,  her  mar- 
tyrs, confessors,  and  virgins,  her  missionaries,  her 
religious  orders,  all  the  saints,  the  poor  ennobled 
by  their  poverty,  all  the  good  of  the  world — they 
are  the  creation  of  Jesus  Christ.  Great  must  He 
be  who  has  exalted  the  weakness  of  human  na- 
ture to  such  unearthly  perfections. 

Therefore  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  true  and  only  Son  of  God,  born  of  the 
Father  before  all  ages,  consubstantial  with  Him 
and  perfectly  equal  to  Him  in  all  things,  one 
and  the  same  God,  and  the  Second  Person  of  the 
holy  Trinity. 


CONFEEENCE   IV. 


ON  THE  DIVINITY  OF  OUR  LORD  JESUS  CHRIS! , 
THE  SECOND  PERSON  OF  TEE  BLESSED  TRI- 
NITY {CONTINUED). 


The  moral  Teaching  of  our  Lord  harmonizes  with  Man's  three  great 
Rehitions — Its  Establislmient  proves  its  Author  to  be  God — 
Paul  and  Barnabas  taken  for  Gods — Precepts,  Maxims,  Coun- 
sels, Parables  of  our  Lord  are  all  divine — The  true  Portrait  of 
Virtue — Benevolence  of  our  Lord — His  absolute  Holiness  of 
Life — He  weeps — Judas  and  Pilate — His  heroic  Virtue — His 
Miracles,  certain,  public,  and  numerous,  confirmed  by  His  Ene- 
mies— Perpetuated — One  sufficient — Prove  all  C'atholic  Faith 
— His  Favors,  Promises,  Gifts,  all  divine — He  sends  the  di- 
vine Paraclete — Gives  Power  to  remit  Sins,  to  work  Miracles 
— Promises  the  conversion  of  Nations,  the  Perpetuity  of  the 
Church,  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope — Apologists  gloried  when 
charged  with  adoring  a  crucified  God — Christ's  second  Com- 
ing-^The  last  Day — ]Moral  Reflections — The  Sjicred  Humani- 
ty— Hypostatic  Union  the  Wonder  of  Eternity — Worthy  of  su- 
preme Worship — Excellence  of  the  sacred  Humanity — The 
Temple  of  God — Perfect  W^ork  of  the  Holy  Ghost — Sanctuary 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity — His  Soul  a  perfect  Mirror  of  God — 
Always  saw  the  divine  Essence — Knowledge  infused  and  ac- 
quired— All  pertaining  to  God  belongs  to  Jesus  Christ — God  is 
born,  suffers,  and  dies— Jesus  Christ  is  infinite — He  is  God. 

I. 

There  haili  stood  one  in  the  midst  of  you  whom  you  know  not.— 
John  i.  26. 

My  Brethren: 

When  I  last  addressed  you  I  proved  liow 
splendidly  the  divinity  of  our  Lord  is  estab- 
lished by  the  external  glories  of  His  ministry. 


120  THE   BLESSED   TEINITY. 

To-day  let  us  dwell  on  that  spirit  of  His  di- 
vinity which  embraces  His  doctrines,  His  favors, 
and  His  promises,  and  on  the  miracles  by 
which  these  are  confirmed  ;  all  and  each  equally 
prove  that  Jesus  Christ  is  true  God. 

Our  Lord's  moral  teachings  and  the  manner  in 
which  these  teachings  were  announced  and  con- 
firmed unquestionably  prove  His  divinity.  They 
regulate  man's  relations  to  his  Maker,  to  him- 
self, and  to  his  fellow-beings.  And  His  precepts 
are  so  perfectly  in  harmony  with  these  relations 
that  their  superhuman  adaptation  proves  their 
author  to  be  the  Creator  and  Sovereign  Lord  of 
man  and  of  all  things. 

Man  is  bound  to  love  God,  his  neighbor,  and 
himself  in  a  reasonable  manner.  The  moral  code 
of  Jesus  Christ  inculcates  and  regulates  these 
loves  in  the  most  perfect  way.  Thou  slialt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  thy  whole  heart  and  thy 
whole  soul^  with  all  thy  strength^  and  with  all 
thy  mind.  This  love  accords  with  the  idea 
which  both  reason  and  faith  give  of  the  great 
First  Cause.  He  must  be  loved  for  His  own 
sake  as  God,  and  then  on  account  of  the  ex- 
cellence of  His  being.  He  is  the  absolute  good, 
whom  we  are  destined  to  possess  for  ever,  and 
He  has  lavished  upon  us  all  that  He  possesses. 
Our  love  for  Him  must  be  a  loyal  love,  firm  and 


FOURTH   CONFERENCE.  121 

true,  and  superior  to  the  most  rude  and  violent 
assaults. 

Thou  slialt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 
We  are  instructed  by  our  Lord  to  love  not  only 
our  j)arents,  friends,  and  benefactors,  but  every 
human  being  as  we  love  ourselves ;  because  all 
are  made  to  the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  or 
have  been  redeemed  by  the  precious  Blood,  and 
are  our  brothers.  For  this  reason  our  Lord  wills 
that  we  should  pray  for  all  and  in  the  name  of 
all.  Our  Father  who  art  in  7^eaz?e?i— thus  shall 
you  pray.  We  must  do  our  neighbor  no  in- 
jury, inflict  no  pain,  and,  in  short,  we  must  do 
unto  him  as  we  would  be  done  by ;  and  we 
must  pardon  the  greatest  injuries. 

We  must  love  ourselves — not  with  a  disorder- 
ly self-love,  which  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  Gfod 
and  man.  To  know  how  to  govern  this  love  is 
essentially  necessary  for  our  present  and  future 
hapx)iness  ;  this  important  lesson  our  Lord  has 
taught  us. 

We  are  commanded  to  love  the  soul  more 
than  the  body,  because  it  is  more  excellent  and 
more  like  God.  The  body  is  to  be  loved  for 
the  end  for  which  it  was  bestowed,  as  an  in- 
strument to  practise  virtue  and  obtain  merit. 
Man  must  desi^ise  the  life  of  the  body  when 
he  can  preserve  it  at  the  loss  only  of  the  soul. 

10 


122  THE  BLESSED  TKINITY. 

We  are  made  for  society,  and  eacli  has  the 
same  relation  to  the  community  that  one  mem- 
ber has  to  his  body,  while  society  has  the  same 
relation  to  the  individual  that  the  body  has  to 
each  member.  Every  individual  is  commanded 
by  our  Lord  to  prefer  the  general  good  to  his  own 
private  interests.  Render  therefore  to  Ccesar  the 
things  that  are  Ccesar^  s.  We  are  also  united 
among  ourselves  by  the  bonds  of  religion.  Man 
is  bound  to  sacrifice,  when  necessary,  all  his  tem- 
poral goods,  and  even  his  life,  for  the  pre- 
servation of  society  and  the  salvation  of  any 
one  of  his  fellow-beings.  TJiis  is  my  com- 
mandment^ that  you  love  o-ne  another^  as  I  have 
loved  you.  Our  Lord  loved  all  men  in  general, 
and  each  in  particular,  so  far  as  to  die  for  the 
salvation  of  each.  He  has,  therefore,  set  us 
the  example,  which  we  are  under  the  obligation 
of  imitating  when  necessary. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  sublime  teachings  of 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  have  won  the 
admiration  of  adversaries.  ''I  confess,"  says 
one,  ' '  that  the  simplicity  of  the  Scriptures 
amazes  me  and  that  the  sanctity  of  the  Gros- 
pel  speaks  to  my  heart. '^  How  paltry  all  the 
wisdom  and  learning  of  the  philosophers  when 
compared  with  them !  We  must  conclude  that 
the  moral    code  of   Jesus  Christ  places  man  in 


FOURTH   CONFERENCE.  123 

his  true  relation  to  his  Creator,  to  himself,  and 
to  his  fellow-man.  It  is  in  harmony  with  tlie 
designs  of  God  in  forming  us.  It  is  divine,  and 
its  author  must  be  God. 

In  the  Gosi^el  all  is  adapted  to  the  wants  and 
high  destiny  of  man,  worthy  of  sound  philoso- 
phy and  reason,  inspiring  a  contempt  for  per- 
ishable things  and  a  love  for  those  that  are 
eternal.  All  contribute  to  the  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  society.  He  places  the  reward  of  vir- 
tue in  the  honor  of  obeying  God,  who  wUl  be 
its  future  recompense.  He  recommends  the  ap- 
probation of  a  good  conscience  to  all  human 
applause.  He  prefers  God  before  man,  eter- 
nity before  time,  and  the  soul  before  the 
body.  He  teaches  that  prosperity  is  mostly 
an  evil,  elevation  a  giddy  precipice,  glory  a 
vain  bubble,  afflictions  real  blessings,  the  earth 
an  exile,  and  all  that  ends  with  time  a  vain 
dream. 

Language  like  this  revolutionized  the  world, 
astounded  philosophy,  and  caused  an  entire 
people  to  believe  the  disciples  gods  for  having 
used  it  in  their  preaching. 

All  our  Lord's  precepts  bespeak  His  divin^ 
ity.  The  commandment  of  loving  our  neigh- 
bor goes  no  higher  than  that  of  loving  Him 
as  ourselves;   but  the  obligation  of   loving  Je- 


124  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

siis  Christ  goes  immensely  fartlier,  for  it  re- 
quires US  to  love  Him  as  God  and  above  all 
tilings.  He  tJiat  lovetli  fatlier  or  motlier  more 
titan  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me;  and  Tie  tliat 
lovetli  son  or  daughter  more  than  me,  is  not 
worthy  of  me  (Matt.  x.  37). 

Katlier  than  sacrifice  tlie  love  we  owe  Jesus 
Christ  we  must  be  willing  to  give  up  all  that 
we  hold  most  dear  in  this  world,  and  even  life 
itself.  ISTow,  could  our  Lord  ask  so  absolute  a 
sacrifice  if  He  were  not  the  source  and  cause  of 
the  same  and  greater  goods?  Could  He  claim 
our  life  if  He  was  not  the  author  and  disposer 
of  it  %  No ;  it  is  the  prerogative  of  God  alone, 
from  whom  we  have  received  our  being  and 
every  other  good.  Jesus  Christ  is,  therefore, 
God.  It  would  be  impious  to  sacrifice  to  a  mere 
creature  our  whole  being,  life  itself,  destined  to 
confess  the  power  and  dominion  of  the  Supreme 
Architect  who  called  it  from  nothing. 

Jesus  Christ  requires,  as  a  last  mark  of  His 
love,  that  we  should  die  for  His  sake  and  shed 
the  last  drop  of  blood  in  the  heart  rather  than 
abandon  Him.  Fear  ye  not  them  that  Mil  the 
hody.  He  that  shall  lose  his  life  for  me 
shall  find  it.  If  He  is  not  God,  can  there  be 
among  civilized  nations  a  being  so  stupid  as  to 
be  seduced  by  such  iimpiety  ?    Could  a  doctrinp 


FOUKTH   CONFERENCE.  125 

SO  monstrous  have  confounded  all  pagan  phi- 
losophy, subdued  all  sects,  prevailed  over  all 
human  wisdom  and  learning,  and  triumphed 
over  the  universe? 

Human  sacrifices  are  an  abomination.  AYe 
justly  deem  all  the  nations  barbarous  that  im- 
molate themselves  and  their  offspring  to  impi- 
ous idols.  But  can  any  higher  distinction  be 
claimed  for  the  millions  of  Christian  martyrs 
who  died  for  the  sake  of  our  Lord  under  every 
excess  and  variety  of  torture?  The  Stephens, 
tlie  Vincents,  the  Sebastians,  and  indeed  the 
legions  of  martyrs  who  washed  their  garments 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  rather  than  bend 
the  knee  before  an  impious  idol,  only  ex- 
changed one  species  of  idolatry  for  anotlier ! 
The  generous  confessors  of  the  faith,  who 
braved  tyrants  and  rushed  into  torments  rather 
than  deny  the  holy  name  of  Jesus,  were  but 
brainless  fanatics !  And  the  tyrants  themselves 
who  shed  the  blood  of  the  saints,  instead  of 
having  been  the  enemies  were  the  benefactors 
of  our  race  and  the  true  saints !  In  that  case 
Christianity  is  but  an  impious  sect,  the  world 
is  deceived,  and  the  blood  of  the  martyrs,  in- 
stead of  being  the  seed  of  virtue,  has  deluged 
the  world  with  idolatry,  superstition,  and  vice ! 
If  not  consumed  by  the  worm  and  moth,  the 


126  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

old  bones  of  Herod,  Tiberius,  and  N'ero  would 
rattle  in  their  graves,  if  they  knew  the  honors 
conferred  on  them  by  the  iDhilosophers  of  these 
latter  ages.  Nothing  can  more  effectually  check 
impiety  than  to  exhibit  it  to  its  own  gaze  in 
all  its  native  absurdity. 

The  manner  in  which  our  Lord  announced 
His  doctrines  proves  His  divinity.  His  words 
are  of  superhuman  wisdom.  What  truth,  calm- 
ness, and  simplicity  in  His  counsels !  Watch 
and  pray^  for  ye  know  not  when  the  time  is. 

His  maxims  are  all  wisdom ;  their  bare  enun- 
ciation leads  the  mind  captive,  and  the  world 
has  adopted  them  as  principles  so  simple  as  to 
lie  within  the  reach  of  the  most  ordinary  capa- 
city, and  so  sublime  as  to  have  won  the  admi- 
ration of  the  most  profound  thinkers.  Where 
thy  treasure  is,  there  is  thy  heart  also.  Suf- 
ficient for  the  day  is  the  eml  thereof. 

Mark  the  wisdom  of  His  parables.  The  con- 
ception is  beautiful,  the  narrative  unaffected, 
the  moral  simple.  God  only  knows  how  many 
poor  sinners  have  wept  over  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son.  Can  anything  be  more  encour- 
aging than  that  of  the  father  of  the  house- 
hold? How  wide  the  difference  between  them 
and  those  of  ancient  and  modern  times !  They 
were  compiled  to  amuse  and  depict  the  absur- 


FOURTH  C0NFERET5-CE.  127 

dities  of  man,  and  they  sneered  at  his  follies ; 
their  morals  are  mostly  pernicious  and  corrupt, 
and  at  best  only  frivolous.  In  all  His  parables 
our  Lord  not  only  instructs  but  He  compas- 
sionates;  and  when  He  attacks  men's  vices  it 
is  only  for  the  purpose  of  healing  them. 

The  enemies  of  our  Lord  frequently  attempted 
to  entrap  Him  in  His  answers  to  captious  ques- 
tions, that  they  might  be  able  to  construe  His 
words  into  a  crime.  Behold  His  calmness.  His 
promptness,  and  the  infinite  wisdom  by  which 
He  not  only  extricates  Himself,  but  entangles 
them  in  the  very  meshes  they  had  astutely  pre- 
pared for  Him.  He  tliat  is  Without  sin  among 
you^  let  him  first  cast  a  stone^  was  His  answer 
to  the  Pharisees  who  brought  before  Him  a 
woman  taken  in  adultery,  that  He  might  pass 
sentence  on  her.  Bender  to  CcBsar  the  things 
that  are  Ccesafs,  and  to  God  the  things  that 
are  God' s,  was  His  answer  to  the  Herodians  who 
came  maliciously  to  ask  Him  if  it  were  lawful  to 
pay  tribute  to  Csesar.  This  answer  covered  His 
enemies  with  shame,  but  they  were  not  irritated 
with  Him  ;  for  not  He  but  the  truth  alone  con- 
founded them. 

A  divine  eloquence  and  an  irresistible  power 
of  persuasion  prevail  throughout  all  His  ex- 
hortation ;  so  prompt  and  indeliberate  is  our  as- 


128  THE  BLESSED  TEIIS'ITY. 

sent  tliat  each  seems  the  spontaneous  produc- 
tion of  our  own  reason.  Hear  how  He  instructs 
man  to  have  recourse  with  confidence  to  God 
in  his  wants  and  necessities :  WTiicli  of  you^  if 
lie  aslc  Ms  father  breads  will  lie  give  Mm  a 
stone  f  or  a  fisli^  will  lie  for  a  fish  give  Mm  a 
serpent  f  If  you  then  being  evil,  know  how  to 
give  good  gifts  to  your  children,  how  much 
more  will  your  Father  from  heaven  give  the 
good  Spirit  to  them  that  aslc  Him?  Is  not 
this  the  way  in  which  the  man  who  is  Grod 
should  vindicate  His  attributes  before  men? 
His  every  expression  is  overflowing  with  infinite 
wisdom ;  every  sentence  is  a  rich  mine,  which 
remains  unexhausted  although  worked  for  nine- 
teen centuries.  All  is  true,  all  is  sublime,  all  is 
wise  ;  the  purest  reason  is  conspicuous  through- 
out. Nothing  can  be  added  and  nothing  taken 
away,  for  it  is  a  masterpiece  of  Him  who  does 
nothing  except  what  is  perfect. 

Our  Lord's  teachings  are  enforced  by  the 
sanctity  of  His  life.  If  the  most  learned  man 
attempt  to  paint  virtue,  unless  he  has  the  type 
in  his  own  soul  and  is  good  himself,  his  picture 
will  be  a  distortion,  like  the  writings  of  all  the 
philosophers  of  former  and  recent  times.  They 
are  a  mixture  of  good  and  evil,  radiant  with 
beauties    and  teeming  with  deformities.      Men 


FOURTH  CONFERENCE.  129 

write  themselves,  and  they  cannot  give  a  por- 
trait of  virtue,  for  the  model  is  not  within  them. 
Our  Lord  gives  ns  the  true  idea  of  sanctity,  for 
He  was  its  type  and  form.  His  reason  was  never 
clouded  by  ignorance  nor  His  heart  disturbed  by 
passion.  He  was  x^erfectly  wise,  and  therefore 
perfectly  holy.  From  His  first  appeai*ance  we 
are  amazed  at  His  sanctity.  He  is  conspicuous 
for  the  primary  virtues — the  love  of  God  and 
man — the  foundation  of  all  holiness. 

What  dependence  on  God's  will,  what  zeal  for 
His  glory  !  Never  yet  did  bemg  love  his  fel- 
low-man with  a  love  so  pure,  so  sincere,  and  so 
disinterested.  With  what  zeal  does  He  not 
instruct,  with  what  benevolence  does  He  not 
aid,  with  what  patience  does  He  not  support 
them !  He  possessed  nothing.  He  claimed  no- 
thing ;  He  refused  the  crown  that  was  offered 
Him.  He  was  never  seen  to  smile,  but  He  often 
wept  over  man's  misfortunes.  He  always  pray- 
ed, always  labored,  never  grew  remiss.  How 
humble  His  demeanor,  how  holy  His  conver- 
sation, how  innocent  His  life !  He  challenged 
even  the  Pharisees  to  prove  Him  guilty  of  the 
slightest  fault.  On  the  other  hand,  how  noble 
were  His  sentiments  and  how  elevated  above  all 
that  is  deemed  desirous  by  men  !  How  benevo- 
lent and  tender  was  His  care  for  the  poor,  the 
11 


130  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

sick,  and  the  afflicted  !  Witness  the  number  of 
the  blind,  the  lame,  the  deaf,  the  sick,  the  mute 
who  experienced  the  wonderful  effects  of  His 
heavenly  power  as  He  passed  among  them. 

Exempt  from  all  the  defects  of  nature,  the 
familiarity  even  of  the  apostles  served  but  to 
discover  new  abysses  of  holiness  in  Him.  The 
sublimity  of  His  intentions  clothed  His  ordi- 
nary actions  with  so  much  sanctity  that  He 
is  not  less  divine  when  He  eats  with  the  Phari- 
see than  when  He  raises  Lazarus  from  the  dead. 
Holy  must  He  be  when  the  very  disciple  who 
betrayed  him,  and  who  had  an  interest  in  ex- 
posing his  faults  in  order  to  conceal  his  own 
perfidy,  paid  public  homage  to  His  innocence. 
Even  Pilate,  when  he  condemned  Him  to  death, 
in  the  very  same  breath  declared  Him  just  and 
sinless.  No  wonder  the  multitude  demanded 
who  this  extraordinary  being  was  whom  the 
winds  and  waves  obeyed.  No  wonder  they  call- 
ed Him  Jeremias,  and  others  Elias,  or  some  one, 
at  any  rate,  of  the  prophets. 

Virtue  is  truly  heroic  only  when  it  combines 
both  opposite  extremes,  as  extreme  patience  and 
extreme  zeal.  There  is  nothing  more  difficult 
than  to  unite  both  extremes,  and  we  rarely  pos- 
sess any  virtue  in  an  eminent  degree  unless  at 
the  cost  of  the  opposite  virtue.     The  most  gentle 


FOURTH  PONFEEENCE.  131 

is  often  timid,  the  most  just  hard  and  severe,  the 
most  prudent  often  cowardly.  Jesus  Christ  al- 
ways united  both  these  extremes.  If  you  desire 
examples  of  extreme  goodness,  extreme  pity, 
extreme  mildness,  consider  our  Lord  presiding 
at  the  judgment  of  the  adulterous  woman,  con- 
versing with  the  Samaritan  at  the  well  of  Jacob, 
and  apologizing  to  Simon  the  Pharisee  for  the 
sinful  woman  of  his  city,  or  inviting  Himself 
to  be  the  guest  of  Zacheus.  In  these  instances 
we  readily  recognize  the  Father  of  the  prodigal 
son  and  the  Good  Shepherd. 

If  we  desire  examples  of  extreme  fortitude 
and  freedom  let  us  contemplate  our  Lord  re- 
proving the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  reproaching 
them  for  their  hypocrisy,  their  secret  vices,  their 
sacrilegious  abuse  of  all  deemed  most  holy  in 
religion.  No  human  considerations  could  check 
or  weaken  the  intrepidity  of  His  zeal.  While 
perusing  the  Gospel  you  will  meet  many  other 
instances  to  superadd,  but  none  to  contradict 
what  I  have  adduced.  Such,  then,  is  Jesus 
Christ  in  announcing  His  sublime  code  of  mo- 
rals. 

If  our  Lord  was  only  an  ambassador  from 
heaven  His  mission  could  only  be  to  preach  to 
the  gentiles  the  unity  of  God.  To  the  Jews, 
who  already  possessed  tins  true  faith,  His  mis- 


132  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

sion  could  be  of  no  advantage.  They  had  Mo- 
ses and  the  prophets.  If  not  God,  in  either  case 
He  not  only  failed  but  He  defeated  its  object. 
The  prophets  never  compared  themselves  to  the 
Deity,  but  constantly  announced  that  there  was 
but  one  God.  Our  Lord  declared  Himself  equal 
to  the  Father,  confirmed  the  Jews  in  their  be- 
lief regarding  Himself,  and  denounced  the  denial 
of  His  divinity  as  blasphemy.  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas rent  their  garments  when  the  Ephesians 
would  venerate  them  as  gods.  The  angel  of 
the  Apocalypse  declined  the  relative  homage  of 
St.  John  1  Had  our  Lord  less  zeal  for  the  honor 
of  God  ?  If  but  a  man,  in  claiming  divine  hon- 
ors before  and  after  His  death  His  mission  scan- 
dalized the  Jews  and  buried  the  world  in  idola- 
try and  superstition. 

Of  what  advantage  is  His  mission  to  the  world 
if  His  followers  are  profane  idolaters  ?  Is,  then, 
the  advantage  to  be  obtained  by  the  advent  of 
the  Messias  ?  Is  this,  then,  that  new  Jerusalem 
foretold  by  the  prophets,  embracing  countless 
hosts  of  every  tribe  and  nation  under  the  sun, 
and  into  which  the  kings  and  rulers  of  the  earth 
would  enter  and  adore  the  God  of  Israel  in  spirit 
and  in  truth?  Is  this,  then,  that  fulness  of 
grace  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  reign  of  everlast- 
ing holiness  and  peace,  which  the  prophets  fore- 


FOURTH  CONFEREISrCE.  133 

told  would  accompany  the  advent  of  the  Desked 
of  all  nations  ?  Then  this  event  so  happy  for 
man,  promised  from  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
and  so  magnificently  introduced,  after  four  thou- 
sand years,  as  man's  only  and  last  resort,  serves 
but  to  corrupt  the  world  and  bury  it  in  a  new 
and  more  universal  idolatry  I  Into  what  an 
abyss  do  not  human  pride  and  reason  fall  when 
they  raise  themselves  up  against  the  Most  High 
and  attempt  to  sap  the  foundations  of  Chris- 
tian faith  and  man's  only  hope  for  time  and 
eternity ! 

From  the  consideration  of  the  sublimity  of  our 
blessed  Lord's  moral  teachings,  the  manner  in 
which  He  announced  them,  His  wisdom,  and  the 
sanctity  of  His  life,  let  us  now  reflect  on  the 
manner  in  which  he  confirmed  His  doctrines  and 
proved  His  divinity.  This  was  accomplished 
chiefly  by  His  miracles  and  promises. 

A  miracle  is  a  work  contrary  to  the  laws  of  na- 
ture which  none  but  God  can  perform,  or  one  to 
whom  God  has  given  that  power  for  the  purpose 
of  confirming  the  truth  of  declarations  made  in 
God's  name.  The  sudden  bringing  on  of  any 
disorder  or  sickness,  the  instantaneous  removal 
thereof  without  medicine,  the  raising  of  the 
dead  to  life,  and  such  like,  are  miracles.  They 
have   been   wrought   by  Jesus   Christ,   and  by 


134  THE  BLESSED  TEIl^ITY. 

others  in  His  name  ;  there  is  as  mncli  evidence  to 
prove  them  as  to  prove  any  other  facts  that  took 
place  in  the  past. 

According  to  the  dictate  of  reason  and  the 
common  consent  of  the  human  race,  miracles  are 
incontestable  evidences  of  truth.  They  are  proof 
against  the  keenest  criticism  and  they  mark  the 
hand  of  God.  They  are  the  undoubted  seal  of 
the  Divinity  in  attestation  of  truth,  the  silent 
but  powerful  voice  of  the  Omnipotent,  at  whose 
bidding  all  other  arguments  cease,  because  the 
voice  of  God  is  equally  conclusive  to  all  minds, 
of  whatever  state  or  condition. 

II. 

Whenever  our  Lord  gives  a  precept  He  gives  a 
corresponding  grace  to  keep  it.  Whenever  He 
inculcates  great  mysteries  He  proves  them  by 
the  performance  of  great  miracles. 

Our  Lord  wrought  miracles  ;  there  is  nothing 
more  sure  under  heaven.  The  Gospel  narrative 
gives  us  the  history  of  many.  Let  us  select  a 
few:  at  one  time  He  feeds  five  thousand  men 
with  five  loaves  of  bread  ;  at  another  He  changes 
water  into  wine  ;  then  He  cures  divers  diseases, 
casts  out  unclean  spirits,  raises  the  dead  to  life ; 
to  show  His  glory  He  is  transfigured  on  Mount 
Thabor  ;  He  raises  Himself  from  the  dead ;  after 


FOURTH  CONFERENCE.  135 

forty  days  He  ascends  into  heaven  ;  He  has  but 
one  human  parent,  who  is  at  the  same  time  a 
spotless  virgin  and  a  mother.  These  are  some 
of  His  miracles,  and  there  is  nothing  more  cer- 
tain. 

AVhat  proofs  do  you  require  to  be  convinced  of 
facts  which  you  have  not  witnessed  ?  That  they 
should  have  taken  place,  not  in  a  corner,  but 
jDublicly  and  in  broad  day,  in  a  civilized  commu- 
nity, and  that  they  should  have  been  perfonned 
in  the  x'>resence  of  many  trustworthy  witnesses ; 
and  if  these  witnesses  were  of  all  ages  and  of 
every  condition,  so  much  the  better.  But  our 
Lord's  miracles  were  wrought  in  the  most  en- 
lightened age  of  the  world,  the  golden  age  of  lit- 
erature, and  their  publicity  is  a  warrant  against 
fraud  and  cunning. 

What  if  their  witnesses  are  even  the  declared 
enemies  of  Him  who  performs  them,  and  if,  de- 
spite of  their  malice,  they  admit  them  as  incon- 
testably  true  ?  In  that  case  there  is  no  jDossibili- 
ty  of  mistake,  and  no  sane  man  can  doubt  them. 
Such  are  our  Lord's  miracles. 

Could  anything  occur  more  open,  more  visible, 
or  more  tangible  than  the  raising  of  Lazarus  to 
life  close  to  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  one  of  the 
most  populous  and  enlightened  cities  in  the  uni- 
verse ?    'No  less  so  was  the  curinG*  of  the  man 


136  THE  BLESSED   TEII^ITY. 

who  was  born  blind,  and  whom  everybody  knew; 
the  feeding  of  the  multitudes  with  a  few  loaves 
and  fishes ;  and  the  instant  cure  of  many  of  all 
manner  of  diseases  in  the  middle  of  the  streets, 
and  in  all  public  places,  and  everywhere  in  the 
villages,  and  cities,  and  towns^  and  highways  of 
Judea.  The  sun  in  the  heavens  is  not  more  cer- 
tain than  these  marvellous  facts.  These  miracles 
bear  the  seal  of  the  conviction  of  those  who,  en- 
raged against  our  Lord,  clamored  for  His  death 
and  attempted  to  prevent  the  miracles  from  be- 
coming known,  though  truth  forced  themselves 
even  to  acknowledge  them  /  Non  possumus  ne- 
gare.  The  people  who  trail  over  the  earth — the 
penalty  of  having  rejected  their  Messias — confess 
that  these  miracles  were  wrought  among  them  by 
One  who  preached  the  most  sublime  doctrines, 
which  He  confirmed  by  all  these  wonders ;  that 
He  styled  Himself  King  of  the  Jews,  Christ,  and 
the  natural  Son  of  God  ;  and  they  confess  that 
for  these  reasons  they  put  Him  to  death.  Do 
we  need  any  further  authority  to  convince  us  of 
the  truth  of  these  miracles  ? 

The  manner  in  which  they  were  performed  re- 
moves all  doubt  regarding  their  veracity.  Every 
circumstance  forbids  the  suspicion  of  luiman 
agency  or  contrivance.  They  were  wrought  with- 
out   preparation   and  without  physical  or  me- 


FOURTH  CONFERENCE.  137 

clianical  appliance,  at  any  and  every  moment, 
everywhere,  and  by  a  single  word.  This  is  the 
only  art,  the  only  medicine  ;  at  this  single  word, 
and  sometimes  without  a  word  at  all,  the  blind 
see,  tlie  lame  walk,  all  the  multitudes  are  sud- 
denly cured  of  their  infirmities.  Lazarus^  come 
forth!  Like  the  creative  fiat,  at  this  sound 
the  festering  body  of  the  dead  awakes  to  life, 
and  the  multitude  confess  that  such  works  were 
never  before  seen  in  Israel.  The  Jews  deter- 
mined to  destroy  both  Lazarus  and  Jesus,  God 
and  His  witness,  because  they  could  not  deny 
the  miracle.  Oh !  the  blindness  of  the  sin- 
ner's heart. 

Although  His  miracles  disj^lay  the  divine  at- 
tributes of  goodness  and  compassion  for  His 
creatures,  our  Lord  did  not  perfoim  them  from 
motives  of  mere  benevolence,  for  the  same  rea- 
sons exist  to-day  to  cause  Him  to  banish  pain 
and  death  from  the  world.  He  wrought  them  for 
the  higher  purpose  of  establishing  the  truth  of 
His  teachings,  and  especially  that  He  is  God. 
We  all  share. in  them  ;  they  are  perpetuated  in 
the  Church,  and  each  proves  every  point  singly 
and  the  entire  body  of  her  doctrines. 

When  the  Baptist  sent  his  disciples  to  inquire 
if  Christ  was  God,  for  their  answer  He  performed 
many  miracles  in  their  presence,  and  added  :  Go 


138  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

and  relate  to  John  wJiat  you  have  heard  and 
seen :  the  Mind  see^  the  lame  walk^  the  lepers 
are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  arise 
again.  This  was  in  accordance  witli  the  pro- 
phecy of  Isaias. 

After  Jesus  had  cured  the  man  who  was  born 
blind  the  chief  men  among  the  Jews  waited  on 
Him  and  asked  Him  to  tell  them  openly  if  He 
w^ere  Christ,  or  Grod — for  both  meant  the  same 
thing.  He  answered :  The  worlcs  ichicli  I  worJc  in 
the  name  of  my  Father,  they  give  testimony  of 
me.  Before  He  raised  Lazarus  to  life  He  de- 
clared formally  that  He  performed  the  mir- 
acle that  those  who  saw  it  might  recognize 
Him  as  the  sent  of  God. 

To  resume:  God  alone  could  give  power  to 
perform  these  miracles.  This  none  can  deny. 
It  is  equally  clear  that  an  individual  exercising 
this  power  in  proof  of  facts  which  he  announ- 
ces gives  abundant  evidence  that  God  is  with 
him,  that  what  he  declares  in  the  name  of  God 
must  be  received  as  true  ;  for  God  becomes 
responsible  for  the  truth  of  His  declarations. 
That  our  Lord  performed  miracles  no  sane  man 
can  deny  ;  then  God  was  with  Him  and  all  that 
He  spoke  is  true.  He  wrought  His  miracles  to 
prove  His  divinity ;  God  would  not  permit  the 
performance  of  a  miracle  for  the  purpose  of  es- 


FOURTH   CONFERENCE.  139 

tablishing  a  lie,  thus  making  Himself  tlie  witness 
of  a  falsehood,  to  the  detriment  of  His  OAvn 
honor  and  glory  and  of  our  salvation.  Nor 
would  the  Spirit  of  God  instruct  the  prophets  so 
as  to  dispose  the  minds  of  men  to  believe  a  false- 
hood. 'Nov  would  He  inspire  the  Evangelists  to 
write  a  romance  for  the  practice  of  mankind  to 
the  world's  end.  It  follows  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  true  and  only  Son  of  God,  is  equal  to  the 
Father,  and  perfectly  like  Him  ;  He  is  God, 
and  the  Second  Person  of  the  blessed  Trinity. 

Wliom  do  you  say  that  I  am?  demanded 
our  Lord  of  the  apostles.  Peter  answered  in 
the  name  of  the  rest :  Tliou  art  Christy  tlie 
Son  of  the  living  God  (Matt,  xvi.)  Our  Lord 
puts  us  the  same  question  to-day.  We  answer  : 
We  knoio  mid  ice  heliem  that  thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  limng  God.  We  pi'ay  to  hear  the 
same  words  addressed  to  us  as  to  Peter  as  the 
reward  of  our  faith :  Blessed  art  thou^  Simon 
Bar-Jona.  Yes,  with  this  faith  we  are  hapi^y 
in  this  life,  and  will  be  happier  still  in  the  life 
to  come. 

Man  or  angel  could  never  recount  the  mercies 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  human  race.  He  has  be- 
stowed on  us  law,  order,  society,  art,  and  sci- 
ence— the  world  itself  and  all  it  contains.  He 
took  away  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  opened 


140  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

the  way  to  heaven,  made  us  children  of  God  and 
heirs  to  His  eternal  einj)ire.  Seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  Grod,  His  gifts  still  flow  with  unabated 
abundance.  He  pardons  our  sins,  nourishes  us 
with  His  body  and  blood,  makes  us  members  of 
the  true  Church ;  He  heals  our  infirmities,  con- 
soles our  sorrows,  and  is  with  us  in  our  journey 
to  the  grave.  To  use  His  own  divine  words. 
He  is  our  way,  oar  truth,  our  light,  our  life, 
our  salvation,  and  our  justice. 

'^Favors  make  gods  "  was  a  maxim  of  pagan 
times.  Man's  worship  is  the  expression  of  his 
love  and  gratitude  towards  his  benefactor.  Men, 
forgetful  of  their  Maker,  worshipped  the  air  by 
by  which  they  lived,  the  sun  that  gave  them  light 
by  day,  the  moon  and  stars  by  night,  the  con- 
querors who  saved  them  from  their  enemies,  the 
wise  princes  whose  just  laws  made  them  happy 
and  contented.  The  benefits  bestowed  by  the 
best  benefactors  of  our  race  are  paltry  when  com- 
pared to  the  favors  conferred  by  our  Lord  on 
every  tribe  and  nation  and  individual  in  the  uni- 
verse. Constituted  as  man  is,  there  cannot  be 
wanting  on  earth  those  who  will  adore  Him, 
thank  Him,  and  bless  His  holy  name. 

He  does  not  end  His  miraculous  life  by  in- 
structing His  disciples  to  thank  God  for  every 
good  and  perfect  gift  conferred  through  His  min- 


FOURTH   CONFERENCE.  141 

istry.  On  the  contrary,  before  He  bids  farewell 
to  earth  He  binds  ns  to  Him  by  ties  both  in- 
dissoluble and  everlasting.  He  commands  iis  to 
believe  in  Him,  to  hope  in  Him,  and  to  love  Him 
still.  He  promises  more  than  He  had  already 
bestowed,  and  assures  us  in  His  own  words : 
/  am  loith  you  all  days,  even  to  tJie  consum- 
mation  of  the  world. 

The  favors  bestowed  and  the  promises  made 
by  our  Lord  prove  Him  to  be  God,  for  tliey  are 
such  as*  none  but  God  could  make  and  accom- 
plish. In  number,  in  extent,  and  in  their  appli- 
cation they  surpass  the  favors  already  bestowed. 

He  promises  to  send  His  disciples  another 
Comforter,  who  proceeds  from  the  Father,  to 
teach  them  all  truth  and  to  abide  with  them  for 
ever  (John  xvi.)  What  power  had  He  over  the 
Spirit  of  God,  if  that  Spirit  was  not  His  own  Spi- 
rit also  \  He  fulfilled  this  promise  ten  days  after 
His  ascension  by  sending  down  the  Holy  Ghost 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  This  is  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  which  the  world  cannot  receive ;  the  Spirit 
of  peace,  of  consolation,  of  fortitude,  to  give 
strength  to  the  martyrs,  zeal  to  the  confessors, 
piety  to  the  entire  world,  light  to  guide  and 
direct  the  pastors  of  the  Church  which  He  ani- 
mates. He  has  changed  the  entire  face  of  the 
world  and  has  created  a  new  earth.    He  forms 


142  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

tlie  saints,  confounds  incredulity,  confirms  tlie 
faithful,  converts  sinners,  and  supports  us  all  in 
our  trials  and  sufferings. 

He  promised  to  give  His  priesthood  the  power 
of  forgiving  sins — a  power  peculiar  to  Grod  alone. 
The  Jews  were  scandalized  when  He  asserted  this 
power  for  Himself.  Great  is  the  astonishment  of 
the  world  when  we  read  that  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost He  bestowed  on  man,  weak  man,  this 
identical  power  which  He  had  of  remitting  sins 
(John  xxi.) 

An  amazing  test  of  truth  was  the  promise  to 
give  His  apostles  power  to  work  miracles  in  His 
name,  which,  without  rashness,  none  but  God 
could  promise  or  effectually  bestow.  The  apos- 
tles displayed  that  power  in  testimony  of  His 
divinity.  Not  in  the  name  of  Moses  but  in  the 
name  of  God  did  Josue  command  the  sun  not  to 
go  down  towards  Gabaon  while  He  was  combat- 
ing for  the  people  of  God.  But  it  was  in  the 
holy  name  of  Jesus  that  the  apostles  raised  the 
dead  and  cured  all  kinds  of  diseases  instantly, 
and  it  was  in  that  name  that  they  converted  na- 
tions. Without  its  influence  they  were  as  pow- 
erless as  Moses  without  his  rod.  So  infinite 
is  Jesus  Christ  that  tlie  grave,  where  all  human 
power  and  greatness  ends  and  is  buried  in  the 
dust,  was  the  cradle,   was  like  the  morning  star 


FOURTH  confere:n^ce.  143 

that  ushered  in  the  empire  of  His  omnipotence 
and  of  His  everlasting  reign. 

He  promised  them  the  conversion  of  the  world, 
the  triumph  of  His  cross  over  all  nations,  the 
universal  sway  of  His  kingdom  ;  and  that  princes 
and  kings,  that  every  nation  and  tribe  and  peo- 
ple, should  adore  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  in 
His  one  true  Church.  If  He  did  not  hold  in  His 
hands  the  hearts  of  all  men,  how  could  He 
promise  or  effectually  cause  a  revolution  never 
before  witnessed  ? 

He  promises  that  upon  Peter,  as  upon  a  rock, 
He  will  build  His  Church — that  is,  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  faithful — and  that  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  it.  Such  a  promise 
includes  a  divine  power,  not  only  of  converting 
the  hearts  of  men  and  drawing  them  by  the 
unifcy  of  faith  into  the  one  fold,  but  of  securing 
to  them  the  integi-ity  of  that  faith  and  its  gov- 
ernment against  all  the  powers  of  Satan.  This 
promise  was  made  good  when  our  Lord  com- 
manded Peter  to  feed  His  lambs  and  His  sheep 
(John  xxi.)  This  congregation  of  believers,  un- 
der one  supreme  pastor,  then  began,  and  it  con- 
tinues to  the  present  day  under  one  head,  our 
Holy  Father,  Leo  XIII.  (whom  may  God  long 
preserve!),  the  successor  of  St.  Peter  and  the 
vicar    of    Jesus  Christ  on  earth.      This  is  the 


144  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

Catholic  Church,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth 
(1  Tim.  iii.  15). 

She  is  the  infallible  witness  of  the  divinity  of 
her  Founder,  carrying  His  name.  His  doctrines, 
and  His  precious  blood  all  the  world  over.  Her 
system  is  so  perfect  that  not  a  single  point  of  her 
faith  could  be  effaced  without  a  shock  to  the  en- 
tire body  or  without  marring  the  beauty  and 
harmony  of  her  unearthly  symmetry.  As  there 
can  be  but  one  true  Grod,  there  can  be  but  one 
true  faith  (EiDh.) 

From  her  foundation,  the  Church  of  God  has 
experienced  the  most  violent  assaults  from  perse- 
cutions, heresies,  scandals,  from  the  wickedness 
of  all  mankind,  and  from  the  immorality  of 
many  of  her  own  children.  But  nothing  has 
been  able  to  shake  her  from  the  rock  on  which 
she  was  built  by  her  divine  Master.  The  most 
powerful  dynasties  have  disappeared  and  are 
no  more,  earthly  kingdoms  and  empires  vanish, 
but  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  king- 
dom of  all  ages.  The  Lord  is  faithful  to 
His  promises :  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
away,  hut  my  words  shall  not  pass  away  (Mark 
xiii.) 

Take  away  this  faith  and  you  destroy  the 
Christianity,  the  civilization,  and  the  happiness 
of  the  world,  and  you  leave  man  as  aimless  as 


FOURTH   CONFERENCE.  145 

the  savage  in  the  desert  or  as  vile  as  the  Moham- 
medan in  his  harem. 

Paganism  reproached  the  early  Christians  for 
adoring  a  crucified  God.  Our  famous  apologists 
triumi)hantly  refuted  all  the  calumnies  of  the 
times  uttered  against  the  faith.  But  in  this  fact 
of  the  cross  they  gloried,  and  in  this  they  vindi- 
cated the  divinity  of  our  Lord,  by  their  writings, 
their  virtues,  their  sufferings,  and  their  death. 

Although  always  j^resent  with  us  in  His  mar- 
vellous Eucharistic  life,  our  Lord  will  come 
again  a  second  time  as  we  saw  Him  leave  us  at 
Olivet.  He  will  come  in  i^ower  and  majesty  in 
the  clouds  of  heaven,  accompanied  with  all  His 
angels  and  saints,  to  judge  the  living  and  the 
dead.  He  is  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning 
and  the  end.  Every  eye  ever  quenched  in  death 
shall  see  Him,  every  ear  shall  hear  His  voice, 
every  tribe  of  the  earth  shall  receive,  trembling 
before  His  throne,  the  sentence  of  their  everlast- 
ing doom.  Abraham,  Elias  and  the  prophets, 
all  the  patriarchs,  the  apostles  and  martyrs 
and  saints,  all  the  renowned  men  of  the  world, 
good  and  bad,  all  the  humble  and  the  gi-eat  of 
Adam's  race,  and  all  the  angels  of  heaven  will 
adore  Him  as  the  arbiter  of  the  fate  of  every 
human  being,  the  Lord  of  life  and  death,  the 
King  of  ages,  the  Prince  of  eternity,  the  Master 

12 


146  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

of  men  and  angels,  the  sovereign  Judge  of  the 
universe.  He  is  the  Lamb  wMcJi  was  slain  from 
tlie  beginning,  and  who  liveth  for  ever  and  ever^ 
who  redeemed  us  to  God  .  .  .  out  of  etery  tribe^ 
and  tongue^  and  people^  and  nation.  He  con- 
quered sln^  and  deaths  and  liell.  He  led  capti- 
mty  captive ;  delivering  us  from  the  power  of 
darJcness,  and  acquiring  for  Himself  a  name 
above  every  name  that  is  named,  the  only  name 
under  heaven  given  to  men  whereby  we  must  be 
saved.  And  at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee 
shall  bow,  of  those  that  are  in  lieaven,  on  earth, 
and  under  the  earth,  and  every  tongue  shall  con- 
fess that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  in  the  glory 
of  God  the  Father. 

The  union  of  the  divine  and  liuman  natures  in 
the  person  of  our  Lord  does  not  destroy  but  per- 
fects His  humanity.  He  is  true  man.  This 
union  intensified  all  his  susceptibilities  of  pain 
or  pleasure  in  a  manner  inconceivable  to  us. 
We  must  love  Him  not  only  as  God  but  as  man, 
and  adore  His  sacred  humanity  with  supreme 
worship  and  for  many  reasons. 

The  body  of  our  Lord  is  the  temple  of  God, 
in  which  all  the  plenitude  of  the  Godhead  dwells 
(Col.  ii.  9).  It  is  the  most  perfect  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  formed  from  the  virgin  blood  of  the 
Immaculate  Mother,  and  especially  made  for  the 


FOURTH   CONFERENCE.  147 

purpose  of  suffering,  as  the  eye  is  made  to  see. 
It  is  tlie  treasury  of  all  miracles,  of  infinite 
graces  and  merits  ;  it  is  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Blessed  Tiinity  and  of  all  divine  perfections,  so 
that  He  is  called  in  Holy  Writ  the  Holy  of  holies^ 
magnificent  in  lioliness  and  holiness  itself.  As 
man  he  is  the  meet  dwelling-place  of  the  divine 
Word,  in  whose  foimation  the  Father  displayed 
His  power,  the  Son  His  wisdom,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  His  sanctity. 

As  first-born  from  the  dead  and  head  of  the 
Church  triumphant  in  heaven,  the  beauty  of  our 
Lord's  body  surpasses  the  combined  splendors  of 
all  angels  and  saints  and  all  creations.  Multi- 
tudes felt  no  hunger  for  days  while  feasting  on 
the  beauty  of  His  mortal  countenance  ;  the  dis- 
ciples fell  into  ecstasy  on  Thabor,  where  they 
could  have  remained  for  ever  contented  with  one 
glance  of  His  glory.  The  angels  long  to  see  Him 
now  in  glory  ;  the  seraphs  are  never  satiated  with 
the  vision.  The  sight  of  Him  is  the  beatific 
vision,  and  the  loss  of  Him  is  hell.  He  is  the 
delight  and  the  complacency  of  the  Father 
(Matt.  iii.  17). 

Nothing  can  be  compared  to  the  splendors  of 
the  human  soul  of  our  omnij)otent  Saviour.  To 
say  that  it  surpasses  the  combined  splendors  of 
all  the  hosts  of  heaven  is  like  saying  that  the 


148  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

eartli  is  larger  than  a  grain  of  miistard-seed. 
His  memory  is  the  image  of  the  living  God  and 
the  mirror  of  the  divine  perfections  uninterrupt- 
edly contemplating  them.  In  His  understand- 
ing he  saw  from  the  first  instant  of  His  creation 
Grod,  the  Blessed  Trinity,  the  divine  essence,  and 
all  His  infinite  attribtites  openly  and  face  to  face. 
In  God,  as  in  a  bright  mirror,  he  saw  all  things, 
past  and  present  and,  future.  No  thought  was 
ever  conceived,  no  word  spoken,  no  creature  ever 
exists  which  he  does  not  know.  He  knows  all 
actual  and  possible  things  in  creation,  and  His 
science  as  man  is  limited  by  the  infinite  possi- 
bility only  in  the  Creator. 

His  will  is  the  unbroken  exercise  of  all  virtues 
in  the  highest  degree,  and  it  is  a  perfect  image 
of  the  divine  will.  His  soul  is  adorned  in  the 
most  eminent  degree  with  all  virtues,  with  the 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  all  graces.  In 
fine,  as  man  Jesus  Christ  is  an  immense  ocean  of 
all  prerogatives,  excellences,  graces,  and  virtues. 
His  humanity  merits  the  supreme  adoration  of 
angels  and  saints,  and  of  all  creatures,  and  is 
worthy  of  all  love  on  apcount  of  its  union  with 
the  Word. 

Be  astonished^  0  ye  lieavens^  .  .  .  and^  ye  gates 
fhereof^  he  very  desolate.  Our  Lord  is  not  loved 
by  His  pwn  creatures,   whom  He  cre^tpd,  for 


FOURTH  CONFEREJS^CE.  149 

whom  He  died  on  tlie  cross,  and  for  whom  He 
is  all  inflamed  with  love. 

Remember  that  He  who  loves  us  is  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Creator  and  sovereign  Lord  of  all  things, 
and  that  man  is  but  dust  and  ashes,  sin  and 
misery,  whom  the  Lord  needs  not.  His  love  for 
the  least  of  us  surpasses  the  combined  love 
of  all  the  angels  for  the  Blessed  Trinity,  and 
all  created  love,  even  instinctive,  united  on  one 
object.  It  is  greater  than  our  Lord's  love  for 
Himself.  He  has  given  us  all  He. possessed  as 
man — His  labors,  His  honor,  and  His  life ;  He 
endured  shame,  contempt,  and  the  dreadful  tor- 
ments of  the  Crucifixion  for  each  individual. 

His  love  is  so  infinite  that  He  has  nothing; 
and  there  is  nothing  in  Him  which  He  has  not 
bestowed  upon  us,  even  His  very  body  and 
blood.  Let  us  make  a  return  by  keeping  His 
commandments,  and  they  are  not  heavy.  With 
justice  did  St.  Paul  exclaim :  If  any  man  love 
not  our  Lord  Jesus  Christy  let  him  he  anathema^ 
Maran  AtJia  (1  Cor.  xvi.  22). 


COETEEEKOE  Y. 


ON  THE  DIVINITY  AND  PROCESSION  OF  GOD 
THE  HOLY  GHOST,  THE  THIRD  PERSON  OF 
THE  MOST  HOLY  AND   UNDIVIDED    TRINITY. 


The  Holy  Ghost  is  God — Sins  forgiven,  the  Sacraments  admin- 
istered, and  the  Gospel  preached  in  His  Name  also — The 
Sign  of  the  Cross  the  most  succinct  Creed — Communica- 
tion a  Necessity  of  God — Inward  and  External — The  Para- 
clete a  Necessity — Proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son 
both — Sanctification  attributed  to  Him — A  Person,  not  a 
separate  God — Creates  Order — Harmonizes  and  perfects  Crea- 
tion— Perfects  Redemption — Creates  the  Humanity  of  Christ 
— Inaugurates  His  Mission — The  Word  the  Prophet  and 
Precursor  of  the  Holy  Spirit — His  Descent — The  living  Soul 
of  the  Church — Possesses  all  absolute  Perfections — Governs 
the  Church — Presides  at  General  Councils — The  Pope  His 
Infallible  Organ — No  Christianity  if  He  is  not  God  or  for- 
sook the  Church — His  Graces,  Sacraments,  Gifts,  Fruits — 
The  indelible  Character — The  three  unrepeatable  Sacraments 
— The  Sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost — Redemption  fruitless 
unless  applied  by  the  Holy  Ghost — Apostasy — Moral  Con- 
siderations, etc.,  etc. 

I. 

I  believe  in  God.  .  .  .  And  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord  and 
Giver  of  life,  who  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son, 
who  is  adored  together  with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  who 
spoJce  by  the  prophets. — Nicene  Creed. 

My  Brethren  : 

There  is  but  one  God,  and  there  can  be  no 
more.     He  is  a  shoreless  ocean  of  divine  being, 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  151 

and  His  nature  is  incomprehensible  to  created 
mind.  He  exists  in  an  adorable  Trinity  of  three 
distinct  Persons,  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost.  They  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one, 
having  one  and  the  same  incommunicable  nature 
equally,  the  same  identical  attributes,  and  only 
the  personality  proper,  though  virtually  in  each. 

No  human  learning  nor  science  could  discover 
this  profound  secret  of  God's  manner  of  exist- 
ence, nor  could  fathom  its  depths  when  known. 
In  the  providence  of  God  four  thousand  years 
had  elapsed  before  the  world  was  sufiiciently 
prepared  to  receive  the  adorable  mystery.  Tyjii- 
lied,  indeed,  by  all  creation,  and  intimated  in 
Holy  Writ  from  the  first  page,  it  was  reserved 
for  no  less  a  harbinger  than  the  Man-God  to 
remove  the  veil  and  to  exhibit  to  the  universe 
the  full  face  of  the  Deity  in  the  splendors  of  His 
being,  and  at  a  time  when  reason  and  philosophy 
were  in  the  zenith  of  their  power  and  glory. 

When  the  Word  made  flesh  hung  naked  and 
bleeding  on  the  cross  it  was  meet  that  type  and 
figure  should  cease,  and  that  the  Blessed  Trinity 
should  manifest  Himself  in  unclouded  majesty, 
and  that  revelation  should  be  perfected ;  all 
which  were  accomplished  by  the  mission  of  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

The  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  taught  by 


152  THE  BLESSED  TRIlSriTY. 

the  constant  tradition  of  the  Church  and  the 
clearest  texts  of  Scripture  commissioning  His 
apostles.  Our  Lord  commanded  them  to  go  and 
teacli  all  nations^  baptizing  them  in  tlie  ]S"ame 
— not  names,  to  show  the  unity  of  nature  in 
the  Deity — of  the  Father^  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Now,  none  of  them  can  be  a 
creature,  as  was  falsely  asserted  by  the  Mace- 
donians formerly,  and  more  recently  by  Socinus 
and  infidels.  Sins  are  remitted  in  baptism  ;  only 
Grod  can  forgive  sins — each  Person  is  equally 
Grod.  There  are  three  who  give  testimony  in  hea- 
ven, the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  these  three  are  one  (1  John  v.  7). 

Language  cannot  express  the  faith  of  the 
Church  more  distinctly.  There  never  was  a  be- 
lief more  formally  professed  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era,  in  all  places  and  at  all  times. 
Millions  of  times  daily  the  miraculous  symbol  is 
written  on  the  face  of  the  multitudinous  hosts  of 
the  Church,  from  the  rising  to  the  going  down  of 
the  sun,  in  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Impiety  may  scoff,  incredulity 
may  ridicule,  and  heresy  sneer  at  this  abridged 
creed  embracing  implicitly  all  revelation ;  but 
we  know  it  is  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man,  the 
banner  of  the  heavenly  hosts,  the  assertion  of  the 


FIFTH  CONFERET^OE.  153 

divine  existence  and  the  wisdom  that  has  revo- 
lutionized the  world,  converted  the  nations,  and 
civilized  the  human  race. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  is  not  op- 
posed to  human  reason,  but  above  it.  It  is  not 
a  question  of  abstract  reasoning  but  of  pure 
evidence.  It  has  been  revealed  to  us  by  our 
Creator,  who  is  essential  truth  and  must  be  be- 
lieved with  unhesitating  conviction,  as  He  must 
be  loved  unreservedly  as  the  supreme  good. 

All  the  investigations  and  reasoning  of  ages 
have  evidently  demonstrated  that  there  is  no 
contradiction  between  science  and  revelation. 
God  is  most  simple  and  pure,  without  combina- 
tion of  parts,  either  material  or  spiritual,  and 
without  distinction  between  will  and  perfor- 
mance— A  SIMPLE  ACT.  His  nature  is  a  pleni- 
tude, or,  as  a  doctor  has  it,  **a  super-fulness  of 
perfection,"  like  the  good  measure  overflowing 
and  spilling  on  all  sides. 

Communication  is  a  necessity  of  excellence. 
The  divine  nature  must  communicate  itself  eter- 
nally. This  communication  is  double — one  in- 
ternal and  not  free,  because  a  condition  of  God's 
existence,  without  it  He  would  not  be  God  ;  the 
other  communication  is  external  and  free,  as  the 
creation.  It  may  or  may  not  be,  as  God  wills. 
The  perfection  of  the  divine  nature  is  infinite, 

13 


154  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

and  the  natural  and  necessary  communication  of 
it  is  also  infinite.  It  must  communicate  itself 
in  its  fulness  and  without  multiplying  itself, 
because  infinity  cannot  be  multiplied.  Hence 
the  fecundity  of  the  divine  nature  in  three  ador- 
able Persons. 

The  Father  is  the  fountain  of  the  Godhead, 
the  Son  His  knowledge  of  Himself,  the  Holy 
Ghost  His  love  of  Himself — one  essence  in  three 
equal  divine  Persons.  The  Father  must  neces- 
sarily generate  the  Son,  the  Son  must  necessarily 
be  generated.  They  must  necessarily  love  one  an- 
other ;  it  mingles,  is  ever  breathed  forth,  and  the- 
Holy  Ghost  is  ever  breathed  forth  by  necessity, 
or  proceeds  from  both  because  of  the  infinite  plen- 
itude of  the  divine  nature.  There  can  be  no  in- 
equality, no  diminution,  no  priority  in  this  inefl:a- 
ble  communication  of  itself.  Then  God  exists  in 
three  divine  Persons,  who  are  really  distinct  and 
equal  in  all  things,  are  uncreated  and  eternal. 

Because  they  are  inseparable  in  nature  all  ex- 
ternal or  free  acts  are  produced  by  the  Blessed 
Trinity  combined. 

However,  some  works  are  more  especially  at- 
tributed to  one  rather  than  to  another,  because 
of  its  relation  to  that  Person.  Thus  creation  is 
attributed  to  the  Father,  redemption  to  the  Son, 
and  sanctification  to  the  Holy  Ghost. 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  155 

By  a  person  is  meant  a  free,  intelligent,  and 
independent  agent,  as  man.  The  Holy  Ghost  is 
the  Third  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  dis- 
tinct from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  but  not  a 
sex)arate  God,  but  one  and  the  same,  having  the 
same  nature  and  joerfections,  and  equal  in  all 
things  with  them.  The  name  is  not  essentially 
peculiar  to  this  adorable  Person,  for  each  is  a 
spirit,  and  holy,  and  God;  it  is  given  Him  by 
the  Church  and  in  the  Scriptures,  because  He 
is  breathed  forth  from  both  as  one  principle, 
and  not  by  way  of  generation,  like  the  Son,  but 
by  way  of  procession ;  and  this,  having  no  par- 
allel in  creation,  cannot  be  adequately  expressed 
in  earthly  language. 

Many  Christians  do  not  correctly  understand 
what  they  rightly  believe  and  is  plainly  taught 
by  the  Catholic  Church  in  regard  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  this  is  detrimental  to  the  spiritual 
life  and  is  unworthy  of  the  divine  honor.  The 
Holy  Ghost  is  not  an  adjunct  of  the  Deity.  He 
is  the  Spirit-Creator  of  the  world,  the  ever-bless- 
ed God  from  everlasting,  all  God's  love,  the 
form  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  by  whom  we  know, 
love,  and  serve  our  Creator,  our  Redeemer,  and 
Himself,  the  One  True  God  in  the  undivided 
Trinity. 

The  universe  is  a  material  image  of  God,  the 


156  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

written  book  in  whose  pages  all  can  read  His 
holy  name  more  plainly  than  in  all  the  volumes 
of  human  science.  Creation  manifests  the  Al- 
mighty Father,  the  world  His  unbegotten  Son, 
its  order  and  preservation  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
who  in  external  acts,  as  in  the  Blessed  Trinity, 
is  the  perfection  of  His  ways.  He  is  this  di- 
vinely instinctive  attraction  or  charity  which 
rules  supreme,  binds  all'  the  elements  of  crea- 
tion in  unbroken  harmony,  systematizes  all 
things,  and  impels  the  worlds  in  then*  course 
through  the  realms  of  space. 

In  the  beginning  God  created  Jieaven  and 
earth, .  .  .  but  darkness  2vas  upon  the  face  of  the 
deep.  The  crude  mass  was  informal  and  wild, 
and  its  jarring  elements  in  boisterous  strife,  un- 
til the  Holy  Grhost  moved  over  the  abyss,  issued 
firm  laws,  and  bade  disorder  cease,  when  fair 
creation  sprang  forth,  proclaiming  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  Him  who  made  it.  Send  forth  thy 
Spirit,  and  they  shall  he  created,  says  the  Psalm- 
ist (ciii.)  And  again  Ecclesiasticus  (i.  9)  declares 
that  it  was  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  God  created 
the  wisdom  that  governs  the  universe. 

Man,  the  intermediate  link  between  matter  and 
spirit,  is  still  a  more  perfect  image  of  God  in  his 
soul.  He  is  a  spirit  and  immortal,  intelligent 
and  capable  of  knowing  and  loving  his  Maker. 


FIFTH  CONFERENCE.  157 

In  liis  body  he  is  organic  matter,  and  in  hia 
whole  nature  united  to  the  Word  by  the  Incar- 
nation. In  this  second,  wonderful  stride  in  crea- 
tion the  same  creative  energy  and  co-opei-ation 
of  the  Third  Person  are  conspicuously  manifest- 
ed. But  in  the  order  of  grace  and  in  our  re- 
demption the  action  of  the  Holy  Ghost  fills  the 
soul  with  love  and  wonder. 

All  the  astounding  mysteries  of  religion,  the 
unknown  and  hidden  things  of  the  divine  wis- 
dom, and  the  secrets  of  eternity  are  revealed  to 
us  by  the  Spirit  of  love,  mild  and  gentle  and 
sweet  as  the  dove,  ffis  material  image.  I  can 
readily  conceive  the  astonishment  of  the  evange- 
list at  the  answer  of  the  Corinthians  to  St.  Paul 
when  he  asked  them  if  they  had  received  the 
Holy  Gliost.  They  did  not  know  if  tliere  was  a 
Holy  Ghost.  The  reproach  will  apply  to  many 
who  do  not  realize  theii-  faith  and  cherish  a 
more  tender  devotion  to  our  Lover  and  the 
Spouse  of  the  soul,  God  the  Holy  Ghost.  An 
abundant  harvest  of  grace  and  many  consola- 
tions would  assuredly  reward  the  devotion. 

The  price  of  our  redemption  was  paid  by  the 
Second  Person,  but  it  was  applied  only  by  the 
Third  Person,  otherwise  it  would  have  remained 
barren  and  ineffectual,  and  would  only  have  irri- 
tated our  wounds  the  more  and  made  our  sad 


158  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

condition  more  desperate.  For  centuries  had  we 
languished  at  the  fountain  of  Bethsaida,  and  no 
friendly  hand  was  found  to  help  us  to  plunge  into 
the  healing  waters.  Grod  had  taken  two-steps 
towards  us — the  first  by  creation  and  the  sec- 
ond in  redemption.  He  must  take  a  third  step 
and  come  still  nigher  to  us.  We  need  God  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  lift  us  up,  enlighten  our  souls  by 
faith,  strengthen  us  by  hope,  and  purify  us  by 
love— the  promises  made  through  the  prophet 
Joel  (ii.  28):  I  will  poitf  out  my  Spirit  upon  all 
flesli.  According  to  the  vision  of  Ezechiel  the 
entire  world  is  a  wilderness  of  dead  men's  bones. 
They  shall  be  created  anew;  they  shall  live 
again. 

In  the  work  of  our  redemption  the  victim  is 
prepared  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  How  can  this  be  % 
asked  the  chaste  spouse  Mary.  The  Angel 
Gabriel  answered  that  the  mystery  would  be 
wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  sJtall  come 
upon  tliee^  and  the  poioer  of  the  Most  High 
shall  overshadow  thee  (Luke  i.  35).  The  Third 
Person  created  the  human  nature  of  our  Lord 
and  all  His  faculties  as  man — a  fact  proclaim- 
ed thrice  daily  by  the  tongue  of  the  Angelus 
bell  all  the  world  over  as  the  sun  teUs  his  shin- 
ing hours:  *'Tlie  angel  of  the  Lord  declared 
unto    Mary,   and   she    conceived    of    the    Holy 


FIFTH   CONFEKENCE.  159 

Ghost."  Sublime  mystery  !  and  announced  to 
the  world  as  plainly  as  the  starry  hosts  of  night 
proclaim  the  might  of  God. 

Our  blessed  Lord's  journey  to  Calvary  may  be 
traced  by  His  blood  ;  no  less  marked  are  the 
steps  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  His  divine  co-opeiTi- 
tion.  Our  Saviour  grew  from  infancy  to  man- 
hood like  an  ordinary  man,  and  until  His  thir- 
tieth year  the  prodigies  that  clustered  about 
Him  were  apparently  produced  by  outward 
agency.  An  angel  admonishes  the  shepherds, 
directs  the  flight  into  Egypt,  a  wondrous  star 
conducts  the  kings  from  the  remote  East  to 
Bethlehem,  and  all  Judea  and  Jerusalem  are 
in  consternation. 

Now  anothei'  point  is  reached  and  a  new  em 
begins  in  His  life,  inaugurated  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  The  Father  promises  the  Baptist  a  sign 
from  heaven  by  which  he  will  infallibly  know 
that  Christ  is  the  Messias  :  He  upon  whom  tltou 
slialt  see  the  Spirit  descending  and  remaining 
upon  Him  .  .  .  adore  ;  this  is  the  Son  of  God 
(John  i.  33,  34).  True,  His  humanity  was  cre- 
ated in  the  chaste  womb  of  the  Immaculate  Vir- 
gin by  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  hitherto  He  seemed 
to  be  sepai*ated  from  it  externally.  Now  He 
takes  solemn  and  visible  possession  of  this  mar- 
vellous temple  of  God  in  the  form  of  the  dove 


160  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

and  at  His  baptism — the  new  birth  in  its  Chris- 
tian institution. 

The  public  ministry  of  our  Lord  begins  ;  no 
longer  does  the  current  of  His  life  steal  quietly 
on  in  the  sequestered  vale  of  Nazareth,  but  it  is 
manifested  to  all  mankind  and  is  directed  to- 
wards Jerusalem. 

That  His  mission  may  be  the  more  definitely 
marked  and  His  co-operation  in  the  work  of  our 
redemption  more  specifically  pointed  out  the 
Holy  Grhost  did  not  descend  while  Christ  re- 
mained on  earth.  Could  the  human  mind  con- 
ceive a  greater  advantage  than  the  visible  and 
permanent  presence  of  Christ  on  earth  until  the 
last  day  ?  Would  not  all  doubts  be  removed,  all 
difiiculties  solved,  sin  and  error  be  put  away,  and 
the  earth  become  the  paradise  of  God  ?  Greater 
advantages  will  accrue  from  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  in  order  to  obtain  them  it  is  to 
our  advantage  that  our  Lord  should  leave  the 
world.  It  is  expedient  to  you  tliat  I  go  ;  for  if 
I  go  not  the  Paraclete  will  not  come  to  you. 

Moses  and  the  prophets  announced  the  advent 
of  the  Son  of  God,  but  Jesus  Christ  is  by  excel- 
lence the  prophet  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Bap- 
tist was  the  precursor  of  our  Lord,  but  our  Lord 
is  the  precursor  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  He  not 
only  promises  Him  ;  He  prepares  the  way  for  His 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  161 

coming  by  the  slieclding  of  His  Most  Precious 
Blood  for  our  redemption.  He  instructs  His  dis- 
ciples how  they  are  to  prepare  themselves  to  re- 
ceive Him  in  a  becoming  manner.  They  are  not 
to  depart  from  Jerusalem  ;  they  must  withdraw 
from  all  intercourse  with  the  world,  and  in  re- 
collection and  prayer  be  ready  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  mystery  of  the  descent  and 
indwelling  of  the  Third  Person  in  the  Church, 
which  He  will  animate  as  the  soul  does  the 
body,  lead  into  all  truth,  vivify,  purify,  strength- 
en, and  in  which  He  will  abide  till  time  shall  be 
no  more. 

Our  Lord's  teachings  must  be  supplemented,  a 
channel  must  be  instituted  for  their  presentation 
and  communication  to  all  men.  Like  the  body 
of  Adam  before  receiving  the  breath  of  life,  the 
body  of  the  Church  was  materially  fashioned, 
but  not  till  the  day  of  Pentecost  did  it  receive  a 
living  soul — the  Holy  Ghost.  Hence  her  doc- 
trines are  the  veritable  teachings  of  God  ;  her 
worship,  her  laws,  her  discipline,  her  ceremonies, 
all  divine.  Wilful  disobedience  to  her  authority 
is  disobedience  to  God  and  her  chief  in  the  chair 
of  Peter,  the  infallible  teacher  of  all  mankind  in 
the  way  of  salvation.  The  absolute  perfections 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  His  self-subsistence,  His  ac- 
tion on  the  Church  and  on  the  souls  of  the  faith- 


162  THE  BLESSED   TRIIN-ITY. 

ful,  are  all  plainly  tanglit  by  Holy  Writ.  I 
select  a  few  passages  from  many : 

I  will  ask  the  Father^  says  our  Lord,  and  He 
sliall  give  you  another  Paraclete^  that  He  may 
abide  uoith  you  for  ever,  .  .  .  the  Bpir it  of  truth. 
,  ,  .  He  will  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all 
things  to  your  mind,  whatever  I  shall  have  said 
to  you.  .  .  .  Whom  I  will  send  you  from  the 
Father.  .  .  .  Who  proneedeth  from  the  Fa- 
ther. .  .  .  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  to 
you,  hut  you  cannot  hear  them  now.  But  when 
He,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come  He  will  teach  you 
all  truth.  .  .  .  He  shall  receive  of  mine  and 
sliall  sliow  it  to  you  (John  xiv.  xv.  et  seq.) 

The  Holy  Ghost  is  not  an  energy  nor  a  de- 
tached grace  or  gift,  but  the  Adorable  Majesty  of 
heaven.  They  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and>  they  hegan  to  speak  with  divers 
tongues,  according  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them 
to  speak  (Acts  ii.  4).  This  He  did  not  as  an  in- 
spiration but  as  a  Person.  He  directs  Peter  to  go 
to  Cornelius,  and  commands  Saul  and  Barnabas 
to  be  set  apart  for  the  ministry  (Acts  x.  26). 

From  this  divine  Person  is  derived  the  mission 
and  authority  of  the  apostles  and  their  succes- 
sors, the  bishops,  to  instruct,  to  rule,  and  to 
govern  the  Church  of  God  to  the  end  of  time 
(Acts  XX.  18). 


FIFTH  CONFERENCE.  163 

Revelation,  foreknowledge,  the  personal  know- 
ledge of  all  the  hidden  things  of  God,  sanctilica- 
tion,  the  bestowal  of  all  divine  gifts,  and  all  that 
is  claimed  for  the  Father  and  the  Son  are  equal- 
ly asserted  by  the  pages  of  inspiration  for  the 
Holy  Ghost,  for  these  three  are  one. 

It  liath  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to 
us,  was  the  announcement  made  by  the  apostles, 
through  the  mouth  of  St.  Peter,  at  the  Council 
of  Jerusalem,  and  which  must  be  held  of  all  the 
general  councils  of  the  Church  for  nineteen  cen- 
turies. The  doctrinal  teachings  of  all  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  during  that 
long  period  and  for  all  future  times  are  the  very 
teachings  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  thus  verify- 
ing the  declaration  of  the  prophet,  that  all  thy 
children  shall  he  taught  of  the  Lord, 

II. 

On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  Holy  Ghost  de- 
scended on  the  apostles  in  the  form  of  tongues 
of  fire  and  became  the  living  soul  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church ;  and  He  will  animate  it  for  all  time, 
carrying  the  grace  of  redemption  to  every  hu- 
man being.  Otherwise  Christ's  promises  failed 
and  Christianity  perished  with  His  last  breath 
on  the  cross.  When  did  He  abandon  His  mys- 
tic 'Body,  His  Spouse  and  Church  ?     The  visi- 


164  THE  BLESSED   TRIXITY. 

ble  descent  of  the  Holy  Gliost  on  the  Church 
was  solemnized  by  many  of  the  wonders  that 
always  attested  the  manifestation  of  the  majesty 
of  God  to  our  race.  The  voice  of  nature  is 
heard:  the  thunder  and  lightning  of  Sinai,  the 
splendors  of  Thabor,  the  earthquakes  of  Golgo- 
tha, are  all  renewed  with  a  greater  still,  in  order 
to  rebuke  the  impiety  that  denies  to  God  the 
power  to  remain  with  us  under  the  appearance 
of  bread.  He  comes  down  under  the  appearance 
of  tongues  of  fire. 

In  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  Christ  en- 
tered into  the  bosom  of  the  Blessed  Mother  only. 
He  did  not  take  possession  of  each  of  us  indi- 
vidually. He  assumed  our  nature,  but  not  our 
person ;  He  is  my  brother,  but  He  is  not  I.  He 
bequeathed  His  humanity  and  divinity  under 
the  form  of  bread  and  wine,  and  thus  loved  us 
to  the  term  of  His  possibility. 

We  have  no  adequate  idea  of  the  extent  of 
the  ruin  wrought  within  us  by  original  sin  and 
our  own  personal  transgressions.  A  new  crea- 
tion alone  can  remedy  all  our  evils  and  re- 
store us  to  our  pristine  soundness.  The  royal 
prophet  uttered  the  petition  of  humanity  when 
he  exclaimed  :  ^end  forth  Thy  Spirit,  and  they 
shall  he  created ;  and  TJiou  shalt  renew  the  face 
of  the  earth  (Ps.  ciii.  30). 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  165 

This  second  and  more  perfect  creation  is 
wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Mark  well  the  nar- 
rative of  the  Gospel :  And  there  appeared  to  them 
parted  tongues^  as  it  icere  of  fire,  and  it  sat  up- 
on every  one  of  them  (Acts  ii.  3).  He  descends 
on  each  individually  and  dwells  in  each,  making 
of  the  very  body  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ohost, 
Without  assuming  our  nature  or  person,  he  unites 
Himself  with  us  by  an  ineffable  union,  not  only 
indwelling  but  purifying,  enlightening,  changing, 
deifying  in  a  manner  by  His  gi*ace,  which  is  a 
l^articipation  of  the  divine  nature.  In  the  lan- 
guage of  the  apostle.  He  creates  a  new  man,  who 
henceforward  will  beam  and  be  inflamed  with 
the  love  of  God  and  of  his  fellow-man  ;  his  heart 
will  be  a  deep  over  which  the  Spirit  of  God 
now  reigns,  and  whose  purified  waters  not  all 
the  worlds  ever  created  could  contain.  Only  the 
shoreless  ocean  of  God's  existence  can  hold 
them. 

Witness  the  transformation  of  the  apostles, 
the  pillars  of  the  new  heaven  and  the  new  earth. 
Although  for  years  in  the  company  of  the  God- 
Man  and  sharers  in  His  power,  they  were  timid, 
worldly-minded,  almost  without  faith,  without 
love,  without  perseverance,  attached  to  God  ex- 
ternally, but  severed  from  Him  in  mind  and 
heart.      No  sooner  do  they  receive    the    Holy 


166  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

Grhost  than  they  are  superior  to  the  combined 
powers  of  the  world  and  hell.  The  gentiles 
mistake  them  for  gods. 

You  may  as  reasonably  attempt  to  count  the 
sands  on  the  sea-shore  or  the  stars  of  heaven 
as  our  saints,  whom  none  can  number.  Each 
is  the  tabernacle  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  per- 
secutions of  the  world-wide  Roman  Empire, 
armed  witli  flames,  and  the  sword,  and  the  rack, 
and  the  wild  beasts,  could  not  subdue  the  forti- 
tude of  a  maiden  in  her  teens  ilor  of  a  hoary 
pontiff  tottering  under  the  weight  of  years.  Ye 
millions  of  martyrs,  of  virgins,  of  confessors,  of 
priests  and  bishops,  of  monks  and  hermits,  and 
ye  countless  hosts  of  the  laity — hidden  saints — I 
hail  you  as  the  new  creation,  the  most  perfect 
work  of  the  Omnipotent  Trinity,  the  cloud  of 
witnesses  proving  that  our  Lord's  word  has  not 
failed — that  the  Holy  Ghost  has  not  forsaken 
His  Church,  but  will  abide  with  her  for  ever. 
As  truly  as  the  person  of  Christ  is  perxDetuated 
in  the  Blessed  Eucharist  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
conferred  by  confirmation  as  really  as  He  de- 
scended on  the  apostles  and  was  imparted  by  them 
to  the  faithful,  but  without  the  miraculous  signs, 
for  the  reason  that  miracles  are  not  the  special 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  were  performed  by 
the  disciples  before  the  day  of  Pentecost. 


FIFTH  CONFERENCE.  167 

The  gift  of  miracles  is  for  others  and  makes 
no  alteration  in  the  soul  of  the  possessor,  but 
is  dangerous  to  his  humility.  The  seed  of  the 
Word,  they  are  intended  chiefly  for  one  class 
of  unbelievers — those  who  have  no  other  means 
of  learning  the  truths  of  religion.  To  those  who 
believe,  they  are  generally  useless  and  are  cal- 
culated to  diminish  the  merit  of  faith.  For  the 
enlightened,  who  can  ascertain  the  truth  of  the 
miracles  recorded  in  Scripture,  they  are  super- 
fluous, and  also  for  those  who  fall  away  from 
the  faith.  The  standing  miracle  in  proof  of 
religion  is  the  miraculous  preservation  of  the 
Catholic  Church  for  nineteen  centuries  despite 
the  combined  powers  of  earth  and  Satan.  If  the 
evidences  of  belief  were  not  conclusive  its  rejec- 
tion could  not  exclude  from  heaven  and  con- 
demn one  to  everlasting  flames. 

It  is  by  grace  that  the  Holy  Ghost  acts  on  the 
soul.  It  is  a  supernatural  gift  gratuitously 
bestowed  for  our  salvation,  and  without  which, 
if  abandoned  to  our  own  natural  efforts,  we  c€ruld 
no  more  reach  heaven  than  the  fiend  or  the  beast 
of  the  field,  even  though  as  learned  as  the  philo- 
sopher and  endowed  with  all  the  natural  virtues 
of  which  man  is  capable  in  his  most  civilized 
condition.  Without  me  you  can  do  nothing, 
says  our  Lord. 


168  THE  BLESSED  TKI]S^ITY. 

Thougli  easily  defined,  not  tlie  brightest  in- 
tellect can  comprehend  the  stupendous  gift  of 
sanctifying  grace.  Its  manner  of  existence,  its 
incessant  operations  under  the  im^Dulses  of  actual 
grace,  the  perfect  freedom  of  the  will  under  its 
almost  omnipotent  influence,  neither  St.  Paul 
nor  St.  Augustine  could  unravel. 

As  we  breathe  the  air  that  surrounds  the  earth, 
so  do  we  live  in  the  atmosphere  of  grace  and 
inhale  its  incessant  insj)irations.  God  alone  can 
tell  the  number  of  graces  given  to  each  indi- 
vidual according  to  his  state,  disposition,  and 
condition  in  life.  To  confess  one's  sins  to  a 
priest,  to  pardon  an  injury,  to  resist  a  tempta- 
tion are  supernatural  acts  which  created  energy 
cannot  produce.  Each  requires  a  mission  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  an  indwelling  of  God.  It  is 
Himself,  and  not  His  gifts  separately,  that  is 
bestowed. 

The  infinite  gulf  between  God  and  man  is 
bridged  over ;  and  though  at  times,  especially 
in  seasons  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  vehement 
showers  of  grace  are  rained  on  us,  each  is  a 
greater  work  than  the  millions  of  worlds  which 
illumine  the  firmament  at  night.  Each  addi- 
tional degree  is  worth  more  than  the  universe. 
St.  Joseph,  to  whom  is  accredited  the  forfeited 
primacy  of  the  fallen  chief  of  heavens  hosts. 


FIFTH   CONFEREIS'CE.  169 

might  willingly  descend  from  his  brilliant  throne 
and  taste  over  again  all  his  old  sorrows,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  merit  of  giving  one  cuj)  of  w^ater  to 
the  least  deserving  of  the  human  race. 

God  is  honored  by  the  receiving  of  His  favors, 
and  in  this  He  has  fixed  His  outward  glory.  As 
He  could  not  create  a  being  capable  of  compre- 
hending the  Deity,  or,  in  other  words,  as  it  is 
impossible  for  Him  to  make  us  Gods  by  nature, 
He  has  made  us  Gods  by  grace,  says  a  profound 
theologian,  enabling  us  to  possess  with  Him  the 
same  beatitude,  the  same  kingdom,  and  the  same 
end.  You  are  Gods,  and  all  of  you  tlie  sons  of 
the  Most  High,  said  the  Psalmist.  The  kingdom 
of  God  is  loithln  you,  said  our  Lord.  ''The  soul 
of  the  just  is  the  throne  of  God,"  exclaims  St. 
Augustine. 

The  miraculous  gift  is  best  known  by  its  ef- 
fects ;  these  are  twofold — a  proneness  to  good  or 
a  concupiscence  which  inclines  the  wdll  to  em- 
brace virtue,  to  love  and  practise  purity  and 
honor  and  truth  and  all  virtues,  to  prepare  for 
death  and  be  always  ready  to  meet  the  summons 
to  eternal  rest  and  peace.  Next  divine  grace 
instils  into  the  soul  an  aversion  for  evil — an 
aversion  not  only  for  the  imi^iety  that  stalks 
boldly  through  the  land  and  shocks  decency  by 
its  notoriety  and  excesses,  but  an  aversion  also 
14: 


170  THE  BLESSED   TRIlvriTY. 

for  every  infraction  of  tlie  divine  law,  even  in 
thought.  Such  is  the  operation  of  divine  grace, 
and  its  result  is  a  peace  which  the  world  cannot 
give  nor  destroy.  The  sinner  cannot  possess  it ; 
it  belongs  to  virtue  alone.  It  consoles  under  all 
adversities ;  the  tears  of  the  penitent  inebriate 
with  gladness ;  the  lash  cheered  the  confessors, 
and  the  martyrs  sang  hymns  of  joy  when  their 
flesh  was  burnt  and  their  bones  broken.  These 
are  the  waters  springing  into  eternal  life,  and 
with  which  the  Holy  Ghost  inebriates  every  man 
who  obeys  His  voice  and  forsakes  the  madness 
of  sin,  in  which  is  shame,  remorse,  and  per- 
petual death.  Although  gratuitously  given,  it 
is  in  our  power  to  increase  or  diminish  our 
graces  in  proportion  as  we  obey  or  reject  their 
inspirations ;  which  explains  the  progressive 
sanctification  of  the  virtuous  and  the  perversity 
of  the  \\dcked. 

While  the  sinner  lives  he  is  in  the  order  of  na- 
ture and  of  grace,  and  in  this  respect  chiefly 
does  his  state  differ  from  the  damned.  If  his 
sins  were  as  numerous  as  the  sands  of  the  sea 
and  were  of  the  most  malignant  type,  if  he  obey 
the  first  inspiration  he  can  bring  down  another 
and  another  still,  and  so  on  until  he  reaches  the 
highest  perfection,  like  St.  Paul  and  like  count- 
less numbers  of  holy  penitents  in  every  state  in 


FIFTH  co:n^ference.  171 

Imman  life.  No  limits  are  appointed,  and  it  is 
not  certain  that  any  saint  but  tlie  Blessed  Virgin 
corresponded  to  the  measure  of  graces  bestowed. 
Woe  to  those  who  reject  graces  habitually  and 
resist  the  Holy  Ghost !  Their  certain  inherit- 
ance will  be  the  malediction  of  the  faithless 
house  of  Israel,  whose  desolation  will  last  for 
ever. 

Though  giTice  in  general  combines  all  classifi- 
cations, there  are  mysterious  and  special  gifts 
imparted  to  us  by  the  Third  Person  which  claim 
our  deepest  gratitude.  In  baptism  He  plants  in 
the  soul  seven  mysterious  powers  which  contain 
the  possibilities  of  the  highest  sanctity— infused 
habits  which  so  exalt  us  that  the  ti*ansformation 
is  called  a  new  birth.  We  are  horn  again  (John 
iii.) ;  we  become  tJie  new  man. 

These  supernatural  habits  are  Faith,  Hope, 
and  Charity.  They  are  called  theological  because 
they  rest  on  God  as  their  primary  object,  and 
they  are  the  foundation  of  the  moral  virtues, 
especially  of  Prudence,  Temperance,  Justice, 
and  Fortitude,  which  regulate  all  our  relations 
to  God,  towards  our  fellow-men  and  ourselves, 
under  all  the  circumstances  incidental  to  our 
weary  journey  to  the  tomb. 

The  human  soul,  unspeakably  a  more  perfect 
work  than  all  the  universe,  is  adorned  by  the 


172  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

divine  Paraclete  with  His  noblest  gifts.  Thongh 
the  habits  of  virtue  infused  by  Baptism  can  ele- 
vate it  to  the  most  exalted  perfection,  occasions 
may  arise  when  a  more  prompt  obedience,  deeper 
comforts,  and  a  stronger  energy  become  neces- 
sary. In  Confirmation,  by  means  of  which,  by 
fixed  covenant,  Grod  the  Holy  Ghost  is  impart- 
ed, He  confers  seven  extraordinary  graces  or 
gifts  to  meet  every  emergency  and  co-ordinate 
with  the  infused  habits  or  possibilities.  These 
are  :  Wisdom — not  that  of  earth,  but  that  by 
which  we  prefer  eternity  before  time,  virtue  to 
vice,  life  rather  than  death,  God  and  His  king- 
dom in  preference  to  Satan  and  hell.  Second, 
Understanding,  by  which  the  learned  and  the 
illiterate,  the  young,  and  the  old,  and  all  alike 
know  the  truths  of  religion  on  the  same  grounds 
of  conviction — the  authority  of  the  Church  ;  out- 
side of  it  there  is  only  darkness  and  the  shadow 
of  death.  Third,  Counsel,  the  grace  of  the  in- 
tellect dictating  what  must  be  done  in  each  par- 
ticular event,  and  instructing  those  in  authority 
how  to  direct  others.  Fourth,  Fortitude,  a  su- 
perhuman power,  clothing  the  most  timid  with  a 
strength  which  not  the  violence  of  temptation, 
the  allurements  of  sensual  pleasures,  the  hatred 
and  persecutions,  or  more  still  the  flattery,  of 
the  world  can  shal^e.     It  is  the  grace  of  final 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  173 

perseverance.  Fifth,  Knowledge  —  not  of  tlie 
mysteries  of  iniquity,  of  cunning  and  deceit, 
nor  how  to  become  wealthy  ;  but  the  knowledge 
of  God,  of  the  truths  of  salvation,  of  the  mys- 
teries hidden  in  the  bosom  of  the  Blessed  Trinity 
from  everla^ing — the  knowledge  of  ourselves 
and  of  Jesus  Christy  and  Him  crucified.  Sixth, 
Piety,  the  foundation  of  the  spiritual  edifice  and 
necessary  for  all.  It  has  promises  for  this  life 
and  for  the  next,  and  gives  their  full  value  to 
the  otlier  gifts,  shedding  around  the  sweet  odor 
of  good  works.  It  bids  the  weary  head  rest  on 
the  bosom  of  God,  the  true  Father,  whose  ten- 
derness infinitely  surpasses  the  combined  com- 
passions and  paternities  of  the  human  race. 
Seventh,  the  Fear  of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  be- 
ginning of  all  wisdom,  the  germ  of  all  virtues, 
which  steadies  us  in  the  path  of  duty.  It 
teaches  us  to  despise  the  fear  of  man,  who  is 
impotent  to  inflict  any  real  evil,  to  avoid  sin  as 
the  only  misfortune,  and  to  keep  God's  com- 
mandments. It  takes  us  by  the  hand  at  our 
cradle,  conducts  us  safely  through  the  perils  of 
life,  and  only  parts  with  us  when  we  are  laid  to 
rest  under  the  cold  clod  of  the  valley. 

Such  are  the  marvellous  gifts  that  adorn  this 
new  man  and  more  perfect  creation,  making  the 
soul  the  delight  of  God,  on  which  He  sits  as  on 


174  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY.* 

a  throne,  establishes  a  kingdom  that  will  never 
end,  and  where  He,  with  His  angels  and  saints, 
reign  for  ever  and  ever.  ]N"othing  in  the  universe 
can  match  its  beauty.  The  Holy  Ghost  sings 
songs  of  jubilee  over  His  magnificent  work.  He 
compares  its  outward  lineaments  to  the  lilies  on 
the  margin  of  the  waters,  to  the  flowers  of  roses 
in  the  days  of  spring,  to  sweet- smelling  incense 
burning  in  the  fire,  to  the  cedars  of  Libanus 
towering  upwards  until  they  reach  the  clouds. 

Unlike  the  barren  fig-tree,  its  branches  are 
bending  with  golden  fruit.  The  Church  counts 
twelve,  each  of  which  has  generalities  and 
would  require  volumes  to  describe.  I  will 
merely  glance  at  each.  Charity — all  the  vir- 
tues of  the  just  and  the  heroic  perfection  of  the 
saints  come  under  this  single  classification. 
Joy — in  possessing  the  supreme  Good  and  all 
His  infinite  perfections.  Peace — in  the  assu- 
rance that  we  can  never  be  deprived  of  the  ob- 
ject of  our  love  and  happiness.  Patience — to 
endure  the  storms  and  trials  that  will  surely 
assail  the  best  and  most  holy.  Longanimity — 
the  heroism  of  expectation  for  the  unclouded 
vision  of  God.  Benignity — towards  our  suf- 
fering brother.  Mildness — to  pardon  his  tres- 
passes against  us.  Faith — firm  and  active  in 
our  heavenly  Father  and  in  all  His  teachings. 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  175 

Modesty — in  order  to  curb  tlie  gross  tendencies 
of  our  inferior  nature.  Chastity — to  subdue 
and  restrain  even  lawful  enjoyments  within 
due  bounds  to  prevent  their  becoming  hurt- 
ful by  abuse. 

Such  are  the  marvellous  works  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  In  this  manner  does  He  apply  to  each 
soul  the  mercy  of  our  redemption,  renders  grace 
as  ubiquitous  as  the  air  we  breathe,  and  with 
it  almost  deifying  the  human  race. 

Thus  shall  every  man  be  blessed  .  .  .  tJiat 
feareth  the  Lord ;  .  .  .  glory  and  wealth  shall 
he  in  Ids  house,  and  his  justice  remaineth  for 
ever  and  ever,  and  lie  shall  he  in  everlasting 
remevihrance  (Ps.  cxi.) 

Although  grace  and  every  other  gift,  internal 
and  external,  are  the  combined  operation  of  the 
three  Persons,  yet  the  propriety  of  the  Person 
is  plainly  marked  on  each.  The  physical  world 
is  a  transcript  of  the  Father,  the  intellectual 
world  an  image  of  the  Son,  and  the  moral,  the 
world  of  will  and  love,  the  likeness  of  the  co- 
equal Limit  of  the  Godhead,  the  Third  Person 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  Yet  they  are  not  three 
worlds,  but  one. 

The  seven  Sacraments,  perennial  fountains 
of  covenanted  grace  inundating  the  whole  world 
like  the  rivers  of   paradise,  are  all  under  the 


176  THE  BLESSED  TKINITY. 

power  of  the  Holy  Grhost,  and  are  applied  by 
Him  to  every  cliild  of  God.  Three— Baptism, 
Confirmation,  and  Holy  Orders — confer  the  Third 
Person,  and  the  two  latter  especially,  and  are 
marked  with  the  seal  of  His  dread  sanctity. 
They  cannot  be  repeated.  Penance  can  wash 
away  the  guilt  incurred  by  a  violation  of  the 
obligations  they  impose,  but  they  must  not  be 
rejjeated  without  incurring  the  guilt  of  sacri- 
lege, the  greatest  of  all  sins.  They  imprint  on 
the  soul  an  indelible  seal  or  mark — the  name 
of  Jehovah  written  in  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  can  never  be  effaced.  J^o,  not  all  the 
iniquities  of  the  world  can  blot  it  out,  nor  the 
unquenchable  flames  of  the  dread  abyss  burn 
nor  the  brightness  of  heaven  outshine  it.  Like 
the  sun,  it  will  shine  on  for  ever  and  ever, 
through  weal  or  woe.  Once  ordained,  a  priest 
for  ever  ;  once  baptized,  baptized  for  ever  ;  once 
confirmed,  confirmed  for  ever. 

To  desecrate  a  church  is  a  great  impiety  and 
is  held  in  abhorrence  by  all  civilized  nations. 
How  much  greater  the  iniquity  of  a  Christian 
who,  by  mortal  sin,  profanes  both  body  and 
soul,  the  living  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
sets  up  the  abomination  of  desolation  in  the 
holy  place !  The  second  paradise  is  laid  waste. 
The    prophet    Jeremias,    after    exhausting    the 


FIFTH  CONFERENCE.  177 

power  of  language,  seizes  on  imagery  to  portray 
the  dreadful  ruin.  She  is  the  new  and  degTaded 
daughter  of  Sion,  whose  desolation  fills  all  the 
beholders  with  dismay  as  they  clap  their  hands 
and  exclaim :  Is  this  Jerusalem  the  city  of  per- 
fect leauty,  the  joy  of  all  the  earth  f  (Lam.  ii. 
15). 

All  sins  can  be  forgiven  except  such  as  are 
of  their  own  nature  irremissible,  such  as  obdu- 
racy in  sin,  final  impenitence,  obstinate  heresy, 
despair.  These  are  the  principal  sins  against 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  they  will  not  le  forgivem^ 
.  .  .  neither  in  this  icorld  nor  in  the  world  to 
come. 

This  assurance  comes  from  God  Himself.  It 
is  the  sin  unto  death  for  which  intercession  is 
not  to  be  made,  according  to  the  disciple  of 
love.  St.  Paul  says  that  the  conversionr  of 
apostates  is  impossible.  Here  again  is  distinct- 
ly implied  the  mysterious  impress  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  the  impiety  of  its  desecration. 

The  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  irremis- 
sible. If  we  are  amazed  at  the  contemplation 
of  His  stupendous  mercies,  we  are  no  less  struck 
by  this  terrific  menace.  As  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
essentially  love,  the  infinite,  jubilant  love  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity,  the  very  threat  is  a  love  ; 
it  is  the  expression    of   jealous  and  wounded 

15 


178  THE  BLESSED  TEINITT. 

love,  tlie  assurance  of  tlie  consequence  of  the 
persistent  refusal  of  the  mercy  and  forgive- 
ness of  the  dove  of  the  baptism,  the  ardent 
flame  of  Pentecost,  and  tlie  despised  Spouse 
of  our  souls,  wTio  prays  for  us  and  in  us 
with  ineffable  groanings. 

None  of  the  nations  that  ever  abandoned  the 
Church  have  been  reconverted.  Few  of  the 
numbers,  in  our  day  or  in  former  times,  of 
the  clergy  or  the  laity  who,  like  stars,  fell  from 
heaven  and  filled  us  with  dismay  at  the  depth  of 
their  fall,  have  ever  been  reconciled.  Despite 
tears,  and  prayers,  and  menaces,  they  fell  to 
rise  no  more  and  perished  like  Satan.  They 
prove  the  correctness  of  the  interpreters  of  the 
words  of  the  Gospel,  ''that  the  terms  imply 
not  absolute  impossibility  but  extreme  diffi- 
culty, with  but  rare  exceptions." 

He  that  thinJceth  himself  to  stand,  let  him  take 
heed  lest  he  fall,  is  the  admonition  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  We  all  bear  the  grace  of  God  in  frail 
vessels.  Admonished  by  the  fall  of  an  apostle, 
of  the  angels,  and  of  millions  of  our  race,  let 
us  not  sadden  the  Spirit  of  Ood  within  us, 
but  with  fear  and  trerribling  work  out  our  sal- 
vation. 

May  the  sevenfold  gifts,  the  precious  graces, 
and  rich  fruit's  of  the  Holy  Ghost  strengthen 


FIFTH   CONFERENCE.  179 

US  in  the  resolution  to  live  faithful  to  His  in- 
spirations, to  adore  Him,  to  bless  Him,  and  to 
thank  Him  !  Let  us  always  invoke  His  light 
in  our  doubts,  His  counsel  in  our  difficulties, 
His  strength  in  our  conflicts  with  all  the  evils 
that  assail  us  in  this  life  of  sorrow,  until  we  see 
Him  face  to  face  in  union  with  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  One  God,  for  ever  and  ever.    Amen. 


OOI^FEEENOE  YL 


ON  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY— ONE  GOD  IN  THREE 
DIVINE  PERSONS. 


Mysteries  in  Everything — It  is  unreasonable  to  reject  them — De- 
finition of  Faith — The  Duty  and  Province  of  Reason— Faith 
not  an  Opinion — The  Blessed  Trinity  and  the  Holy  Eucharist- 
Consent  of  Nations — A  Mystery  an  indirect  Proof  of  Truth — 
Revelation  an  unbroken  System — A  Religion  without  Myste- 
ries no  Religion  at  all — A  God  like  Ourselves — The  pagan 
Idea — Faith  the  Reason  of  the  supernatural  Order — The 
Blessed  Trinity  proved  by  the  Divinity  of  Christ — The  Unity 
and  Trinity — Abysses  of  Revelation — Its  Simplicity  the  chief 
Reason  of  the  Incomprehensibility  of  the  divine  Nature — Per- 
sonal Relations — Correlative  Relations — The  Dogma  proved — 
Tradition  —  Creeds  —  Liturgies — Prayers — Sacraments — Illus- 
trations— Shadowed  by  all  Things — Futile  Objections — Impos- 
sible to  be  understood — Moral  Reflections — Love  of  the  Blessed 
Trinity  for  Man,  etc. 


There  are  three  who  give  testimony  in  heaven — the  Father^  the 
Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,    And  these  three  are  one  (1  John 

V.7). 

My  Brethren  : 

The  Blessed  Trinity  is  so  deep  a  mystery  that 
not  the  combined  intellect  of  angels  and  men, 
not  even  the  soul  of   Jesus  Christ,  which  em- 


SIXTH   CONFERENCE.  181 

braces  all  creation  witliin  a  glance,  can  compre- 
hend it. 

The  prime  'article  of  our  faitli,  we  must  em- 
brace it  with  the  full  assent  of  our  intellect  and 
heart  on  the  authority  of  God,  who,  through 
His  Church,  has  been  pleased  to  reveal  to  us  His 
divine  nature  and  the  manner  of  His  existence. 

The  Blessed  Trinity  means  that  there  is  but 
one  God,  and  only  one  ;  that  in  Him  there  are 
Three  divine  Persons,  who  are  distinct  and  equal 
to  each  other  in  all  things  ;  these  Persons  are  the 
Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Father  is  not  the  Son  nor  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Son  is  not  the  Father  nor  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Holy  Ghost  is  not  the  Father  nor  the  Son.  The 
Father  is  God,  the  Son  is  God,  the  Holy  Ghost 
is  God  ;  and  they  are  not  three  Gods,  but  one 
God,  because  each  has  one  and  the  same  divine 
nature  —  not  partially^  but  in  its  fulness  and 
with  all  the  divine  attributes.  The  divine  na- 
ture is  infinitely  simple  and  indivisible,  and  can- 
not be  in  parts. 

A  person  means  an  intelligent,  free,  and  inde- 
pendent j)rinciple  of  action,  as  man,  with  this 
difference,  that  in  man  it  implies  separation  from 
every  other ;  but  there  is  no  separation  in  God. 
Each  possesses  the  Divinity  undividedly. 

The  eternal  generation  of   the    Son   and  the 


182  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

eternal  procession  of  the  Holy  Gfliost  are  the  in- 
ternal acts  of  the  Deity,  and  are  necessary,  be- 
cause without  them  God  would  not  be  one  God  ; 
He  could  not  exist.  In  this  they  differ  from  the 
external  acts,  such  as  creation,  which  are  free. 
The  Blessed  Trinity  is  one  God.  God  the  Fa- 
ther is  the  adored  of  the  universal  world,  and  the 
belief  in  Him  is  the  happy  necessity  of  reason. 
His  assertion  is  almost  an  insult  to  the  human 
race,  and  the  denial  degrades  to  the  level  of  the 
brute. 

Because  it  is  a  mystery  and  beyond  our  under- 
standing some  unhappy  people  refuse  to  believe 
in  the  Blessed  Trinity.  If  man  admits  only 
what  he  can  understand  the  circle  of  his  infor- 
mation will  be  very  limited.  Mysteries  of  reli- 
gion are  truths  revealed  by  God  which  we  do 
not  understand,  but  which  we  are  bound  to  be- 
lieve on  the  authority  of  God,  and  of  His  Church 
as  the  competent  witness.  When  there  is  suffi- 
cient proof  that  God  has  spoken  to  us  it  would 
be  the  greatest  impiety  not  to  believe  Him.  For, 
not  to  believe  Him  implies  that  He  could  deceive 
us  or  be  deceived  Himself  ;  neither  of  which  is 
possible,  for  He  is  essential  truth. 

To  refuse  to  believe  everything  except  what 
we  understand  is  to  contradict  the  laws  of  our 
nature  and  make  the  world  a  bedlam  tenanted 


SIXTH   COIS^FERENCE.  183 

by  every  descendant  of  Adam.  We  are  sur- 
rounded by  mysteries  of  nature  and  by  facts 
which  have  never  been  exphiined.  The  produc- 
tion of  all  things  from  nothing ;  our  body  and 
soul ;  the  marvellous  senses  ;  every  object  in  the 
universe,  both  great  and  small,  animate  or  in- 
animate ;  the  sun  that  rolls  over  our  head,  the 
grain  of  sand  at  our  feet,  have  secrets  of  ex- 
istence never  unravelled.  Despite  of  analysis 
and  scientific  classification  they  baffle  our  scru- 
tiny, but  are  nevertheless  true.  Man  is  a  mys- 
tery to  himself.  He  who  made  us  distinctly  un- 
derstands the  wonderful  machinery  of  the  body  ; 
the  nature  and  essence  of  the  soul  are  open  to 
His  view.  He  is  lifted  above  the  heavens  ;  He  is 
from  eternity  unto  eternity  ;  His  eye  beholds  the 
worlds  that  roll  in  harmony  in  the  regions  of 
space.  Man,  a  speck  on  a  spot  of  creation,  is 
embarrassed  in  his  inquiries  into  the  simplest 
object  that  dimly  shows  itself  within  the  dark 
labyrinth  through  which  he  journeys  to  the 
tomb.  Shall  he  make  of  his  stunted  little  rea- 
son a  magic  wand,  and  boldly  describe  with  it  a 
circle  that  Omnipotence  shall  not  pass  ?  He  can- 
not explain  the  production  from  its  seed  of  the 
blade  of  grass  on  which  he  treads,  nor  can  he 
penetrate  the  properties  of  an  atom  of  air  which 
he  inhales  ;  and  yet  he  pretends  to  measure  the 


184  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

Infinite.  Until  he  is  acquainted  with  all  the 
laws  of  nature  in  their  mystic  plans,  and  all  the 
resources  of  Omnipotence,  he  dare  not  reject  the 
truths  taught  by  the  Almighty  because  they  are 
at  variance  with  his  limited  notions  of  things. 

Some  persons  pretend  that  there  exists  a  dis- 
crepancy between  what  reason  dictates  and 
revelation  teaches,  as  in  this  adorable  truth. 
This  arises  from  the  fact  that  men  draw  their 
conclusions  too  hastily,  and  they  conclude  that 
they  are  well  acquainted  with  what  they  but 
imperfectly  know,  and  that  reason  testifies 
where  it  does  not. 

It  is  certain  that  God  cannot  err.  Man  fre- 
quently errs  and  is  continually  liable  to  mis- 
takes. The  history  of  the  world  presents  us 
with  an  exhibition  of  the  weakness  of  the  hu- 
man mind.  Man  is  always  adding  to  the  stock 
of  his  information,  abandoning  former  theories 
for  new  ideas,  correcting  his  errors,  and  proving 
his  imbecility  while  he  asserts  his  strength. 
God  is  not  so.  Changeless  amid  a  changing 
world,  the  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  pass  away, 
but  His  wisdom,  His  truth,  and  His  word  never 
shall  pass  away  and  are  always  the  self-same. 

But  we  are  not  compelled  to  accept  as  true  a 
doctrine  which  we  do  not  understand,  unless  there 
be  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  God  revealed 


SIXTH  CONFERENCE.  185 

it.  Man  has  not  been  subjected  by  his  Maker 
to  any  dominion  that  could  enthrall  his  in- 
tellect. The  humblest  individual  is  as  indepen- 
dent in  mind  as  the  brightest  seraph  that  stands 
before  the  throne  and  glows  in  the  rapture  of 
vision.  A  contrary  course  would  be  degrading 
to  man  and  unworthy  of  God.  It  cannot  be  a 
religious  duty  to  profess  a  falsehood :  Only  the 
truth  shall  make  you  free. 

Faith  is  not  the  abject  slavery  of  the  mind  ; 
it  is  not  opinion,  it  is  not  fanaticism,  nor  phi- 
losophy, nor  irrational  assent  to  unintelligible 
propositions.  Faith  is  a  supernatural  gift  in- 
fused into  the  soul  by  which  we  firmly  believe 
all  that  God  has  taught  on  the  authority  of 
the  Church,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth. 
It  is  the  root  of  all  justice  and  has  the  same 
relation  to  the  supernatural  that  reason  has  to 
the  natural  order.  Faith  is  the  dawn  of  the 
beatific  vision.  It  is  a  new  mind  which  intro- 
duces us  into  the  secrets  of  the  world  to  come, 
and  it  is  the  special  gift  of  the  Blessed  Trinity. 
The  material  object  of  this  ineffable  gift  is  the 
entire  body  of  all  supernatural  truths  contained 
in  the  Catholic  Church  and  taught  by  her,  in- 
cluding her  own  divine  authority. 

As  in  nature,  so  too  in  religion,  at  every  step 
we  hail  a  mystery — an  abyss  unfathomable  to 


186  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

our  mind,  but  unquestionably  true,  and  a  know- 
ledge of  which  is  necessary  for  our  present  and 
future  happiness.  God,  eternal,  without  be- 
ginning or  end,  and  all  things  created  from 
nothing ;  spirit  and  matter  united  in  man ;  an 
angel  rebels  in  heaven,  and  with  all  his  legions 
is  condemned  to  burn  for  ever  in  hell ;  the 
progenitor  of  our  race  sins — he  and  all  his  de- 
scendants are  sentenced  to  suffer  and  to  die  ; 
God  becomes  man,  is  born,  lives  visibly  on  earth 
for  the  space  of  thirty-three  years ;  He  suffers 
and  dies  on  a  cross  between  two  thieves,  leaves 
us  His  flesh  and  blood  all  over  the  world  and 
for  all  times,  and  now  sits  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father ;  He  will  come  again  and  raise 
all  the  dead  to  life  —  all  are  abysses  of  un- 
fathomable mercy,  justice,  and  love. 

These  and  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Church, 
together  with  the  ineffable  mystery  of  the  Bless- 
ed Trinifcy,  are  the  subject-matter  of  divine 
faith  and  as  true  as  God  is  in  heaven. 

We  are  as  convinced  of  the  existence  of  a 
future  life,  either  of  happiness  or  of  torments, 
as  we  are  of  death,  and  of  the  truth  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Blessed  Trinity  as  of  the  existence 
of  the  American  continent.  A  temptation  to 
doubt  may  arise,  but  a  real  doubt  never  touches 
any  article  of  Catholic  faith. 


SIXTH  COISTFEREIS-CE.  187 

Although  mysteries  are  incomprehensible,  yet 
the  evidences  of  their  truth  are  so  conclusive 
that  no  reasonable  man  can  deny  them.  They 
are  based  on  a  chain  of  arguments  and  well- 
autlienticated  facts  which  are  unanswerable. 
Tliey  are  established  by  so  many  prophecies, 
so  many  and  varied  miracles,  by  the  destiny 
and  history  of  the  entire  world,  by  the  unani- 
mous voice  of  all  mankind.  All  combine  to 
authenticate  a  worship  absolutely  divine,  that 
began  with  the  world  and  will  end  with  it — no, 
will  last  while  God  is  God. 

These  divine  truths  and  adorable  mysteries 
mutually  support  each  other,  forming  a  system 
bearing  the  characteristics  of  truth  and  the 
seal  of  divine  wisdom,  majesty,  and  power. 
AVhoever  admits  one,  if  he  be  consistent,  must 
admit  all.  Whoever  rejects  one  is  as  criminal 
as  if  he  rejected  all,  for  they  are  all  founded 
on  the  same  motives  of  credibility — the  unerr- 
ing authority  of  the  true  Church. 

We  are  not  allowed  to  look  over  the  doctrines 
of  revelation  and  reject  those  which  do  not  seem 
to  us  as  probable  and  rational ;  for  that  w^ould 
be  to  believe  on  the  authority  of  our  own  un- 
derstanding, and  this  is  not  faith.  The  appa- 
rent contradiction  of  a  doctrine  to  human  rea- 
son or  to  a  natural  law  is  not  the  criterion  of  the 


188  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

trutli  of  that  doctrine.  We  often  imagine  tliere 
are  difficulties  in  the  doctrine  when  the  diffi- 
culties exist  only  in  our  mode  of  conceiving  it. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  is  one  of 
pure  evidence,  and  not  one  of  philosophical 
scrutiny.  It  is  certainly  revealed  by  God  and 
can  contradict  no  principle  of  reason,  but  it  is 
beyond  the  reach  and  domain  of  reason. 

The  incomprehensible  depths  of  the  mystery 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity  and  of  all  other  mysteries 
is  evidence  of  their  truth  ;  for  a  religion  without 
mysteries  is  absurd,  and  common  sense  cannot 
receive  it  as  divine.  An  attempt  to  underrate 
mysteries  or  to  explain  them  away  is  an  effort  to 
lower  the  Supreme  Being  to  our  own  level,  and 
its  logical  end  is  pure  infidelity.  To  say  that 
the  disclosure  from  an  infinite  to  finite  minds 
has  no  difficulties  is  a  virtual  denial  of  any  such 
communication  and  it  forfeits  its  character  of 
being  divine. 

Our  Creator  is  infinite  in  every  sense  ;  nothing 
finite  or  created  can  reach  Him.  He  could  cre- 
ate a  new  and  different  world  for  every  drop  of 
rain  that  ever  fell,  and  yet  all  would  be  only  a 
speck  in  the  shoreless  ocean  of  His  existence. 
What  is  infinite  is  incomprehensible  to  any 
height  of  created  intellect.  All  things  besides 
God  are  in  a  system.     He  is  outside  of  all  sys- 


SIXTH  CONFERENCE.  189 

terns.     To  attribute  to  Him  in  their  limited  mea 
sure  our  own  faculties  and  attributes  is  to  entan- 
gle ourselves  in  contradictions  and  difficulties. 
A  God  like  ourselves  is  the  pagan  idea.     We  can 
attribute  to  Him  nothing  excei)t  what  is  infinite. 

The  difference  which  sepai-ates  God  from  us  is 
not  like  that  which  separates  angels  from  men 
or  man  from  the  lower  animals  ;  it  is  infinite. 
When  God  condescends  to  make  known  to  us  His 
nature,  the  manner  of  His  existence,  or  any  other 
truth  necessary  for  us  to  know,  the  incompre- 
hensibility of  this  knowledge  is  the  divine  mark 
of  its  truth.  No  explanation  is  made,  no  rea- 
son is  given,  from  the  fact  that  we  could  not 
understand  it.  Hence  He  gave  no  explanation 
when  the  Jews  asked  Him  "how  it  was  possi- 
ble for  Him  to  give  us  His  flesh  to  eat." 

All  the  saints  who  have  ever  lived  could  not 
understand  the  "how  can"  in  the  Blessed  Eu- 
charist, in  the  Holy  Trinity,  nor  in  any  other 
mystery  of  religion.  Faith  alone  can  explain 
and  embrace  them.  Faith  makes  known  to  us 
what  the  eye  Tiath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  and 
what  has  not  entered  into  the  heart  of  man 
(1  Cor.  ii.  9).  It  is  not  the  light  of  reason,  but 
the  great  light  which  outsliines  all,  that  ban- 
ishes doubi  and  the  shadows  of  death  from  the 
mind,  bathes  the  spirit  in  peace  and  in  the  joy  of 


190  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

divine  conviction.  Faith  is  tlie  reason  of  eter- 
nal life  ;  without  it  it  is  impossible  to  please 
God  (Heb.  xi.  6). 

The  divinity  of  our  Lord  proves  the  doctrine 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  The  special  proofs  of 
each  are  so  obvious  as  to  have  convinced  all 
civilized  nations  since  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  era.  These  three  are  one  (1  John 
V.  7). 

The  most  profound  abysses  of  revelation  are 
the  unity  and  trinity  of  Grod — one  as  inaccessi- 
ble to  created  understanding  as  the  other.  The 
oneness  of  God,  His  infinite  simplicity,  is  the 
chief  cause  why  it  is  impossible  to  comprehend 
the  divine  nature.  Strictly  speaking.  He  has  no 
perfections.  They  are  only  our  way  of  approxi- 
mating to  a  correct  idea  of  Him.  He  is  Himself 
His  sole  perfection-^the  perfection  of  perfections. 
By  this  is  meant  that  He  possesses  the  plenitude 
of  being  without  limitation,  privation,  or  the  di- 
lution of  possibility.  Not  only  are  all  things 
possible  in  Him,  but  all  possibilities  are  actual. 
He  never  has  been  able  to  be,  He  never  will  be 
able  not  to  be.  He  simply  is.  Beginning,  end, 
change  do  not  touch  Him. 

''  He  is  all  things  and  He  is  nothing,"  says  St. 
Dionysius,  ' '  because  He  does  not  belong  to 
things  at  all."     He  is  necessary  and  He  is  of 


SIXTH   CONFERENCE.  191 

Himself.  His  illimitable  being,  and  all  His 
infinite  perfections,  are  blended  in  one — a  sim- 
ple ACT.  All  His  attributes  are  concentrat- 
ed on  each  other  and  become  His  substantial 
qualifications — eternal  love,  infinite  mercy,  om- 
nipotent justice.  But  they  are  justly  distin- 
guished by  our  minds  because  of  the  different 
attitude  in  which  the  divine  nature  is  placed 
before  us  or  considered  in  relation  to  esseity  or 
action.  Thus  we  may  contemplate  the  Blessed 
Trinity  in  the  2:)rofound  solitude  of  His  creature- 
less  life  or  with  creatures  ;  or  the  Son  in  the 
bosom  of  His  Father  and  in  the  bosom  of  His 
Mother ;  or  the  divine  Paraclete  in  the  Father 
and  the  Son  and  in  the  organism  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  In  the  adorable,  self-subsisting  essence 
of  God  there  is  no  difference,  no  vicissitude  of 
change.  This  simplicity  is  marked  on  all  His 
works  ;  it  is  the  character  of  truth,  the  secret  of 
all  creation,  the  simplicity  of  plan  constituting 
the  order  and  harmony  of  the  universe  and  of 
the  Church. 

What  expression  is  to  the  human  face  this 
simplicity  is  to  the  divine  nature — its  beauty 
and  its  identity. 

God,  being  the  supreme  and  sovereign  Lord, 
can  be  but  one.  Two  or  more  would  be  a  con- 
tradiction, because  none  would  be  supreme,  none 


192  THE  BLESSED  TEHSTITY. 

would  be  God — a  trutli  established  by  unaided 
human  reason.  This  fact  was  not  questioned 
until  after  the  Dispersion,  when  men  had  lost  pa- 
triarchal traditions  and  the  world  was  aging,  and 
only  distorted  notions  of  revelation  remained. 

Virtue,  civilization,  true  knowledge,  and  sound 
philosophy  flow  from  the  belief  in  the  unity 
of  the  Deity.  When  abandoned  for  polytheism, 
and  nearly  every  object  and  all  vices  were  wor- 
shipped, a  deluge  of  darkness,  superstition,  and 
crime  swept  over  the  face  of  the  globe. 

The  Most  High,  in  order  that  the  human  race 
should  not  perish  here  and  hereafter,  and  that 
He  might  not  be  defeated  by  Satan  in  the  object 
of  creation,  thundered  forth  the  fundamental 
truth  in  the  startled  ear  of  mankind,  whether 
in  the  stern  glens  of  Sinai,  the  brickfields  of 
the  Nile,  by  the  pyramids,  or  under  the  patri- 
arch's  tent.  From  among  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  He  selected  one  people,  whom  He  made 
the  guardian  and  depositary  of  this  grand 
mystery  and  His  other  promises.  The  Holy 
Ghost  inspired  the  prophets,  who  incessantly 
announced  it  by  the  swift  waters  of  Babylon, 
amid  the  palaces  of  Jerusalem,  or  in  the  popu- 
lous streets  of  gorgeous  Ninive:  /  alone  am^ 
and  there  is  no  other  God  besides  me  (Deut. 
xxxii.  39). 


SIXTH   CONFERENCE.  193 

This  belief,  witliont  wliicli  salvation  is  ordi- 
narily impossible,  was  not  only  tauglit  in  human 
language  but  indelibly  written  in  type  and  sac- 
rilice.  There  must  be  but  one  priesthood,  one 
temple,  one  holy  city,  one  altar,  one  sacrilice. 
It  was  exhibited  still  more  perfectly  in  the 
Church,  according  to  St.  Paul:  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  and  one  baptism ;  one  God,  the  Father  of 
all  (Ex)h.  iv.  5).  If,  blinded  by  their  passions 
and  seduced  by  the  surrounding  nations,  the 
chosen  people  at  times  staggered  in  their  faith, 
they  were  again  recalled  to  its  profession  by 
the  most  frightful  chastisements. 

IT. 

Lest  it  might  be  an  occasion  of  idolatry  to  a 
people  always  prone  to  that  crime,  the  mystery 
was  only  hinted  obscurely  from  the  beginning. 
It  was  said :  Let  us  make  man  to  our  image  and 
likeness.  .  .  .  Beltold^  Adam  is  become  as  one 
of  us  (Gen.  i.  26;  iii.  22).  In  many  other 
places  in  the  Old  Testament  the  faith  is  more 
or  less  openly  suggested.  It  was  reserved  for 
no  less  an  envoy  than  the  Son  of  God,  the 
Second  Person,  to  announce  the  plenitude  of 
the  divine  nature  to  the  world,  lay  the  foun- 
dations of  Christianity,  and  usher  in  religion 
in  all  its  unclouded  splendors. 


194  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

Never  was  truth  more  clearly  or  solemnly 
promulgated  tlian  the  doctrine  of  the  Most  Ado- 
rable Trinity  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan.  The 
Son  is  baptized,  the  Holy  Ghost  visibly  descends 
in  the  form  of  a  dove,  and  the  voice  of  the  Fa- 
ther is  heard  saying :  This  is  my  beloved  Son, 
in  whom  I  am  well  pleased  (Matt.  iii.  17). 

There  are  three  who  give  testimony  in  heaven, 
says  the  evangelist — the  Father,  the  Word,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost.  And  these  theee  aee  one 
(1  John  V.  7). 

Frequently  in  the  Gospel  the  mystery  is  an- 
nounced in  the  most  solemn  manner,  and  always 
in  the  plural  number  and  under  the  most  strik- 
ing circumstances.  Invested  with  the  same 
power  and  authority  which  He  had  from  the 
Father,  Christ  commissions  His  apostles  to  an- 
nounce this  great  truth  to  the  world:  Going, 
therefore,  teach  ye  all  nations  ;  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  (Matt,  xxviii.  19).  He  that 
helievetJi  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved;  but 
lie  that  believeth  not  shall  be  condemned  (Mark 
xvi.  16).  St.  Hilary,  a  Father  of  the  fourth 
century,  commenting  on  this  passage,  clearly 
expresses  the  doctrine  of  the  Churcli  in  this 
manner:  ''They  who  possess  in  common  the 
same  nature  bestow  the  same  gift,  for  the  name 


SIXTH   CONFERENCE.  195 

of  the  Trinity  is  God."  Believe  you  not^  said 
our  Lord,  that  I  am  in  the  Father^  and  the 
Father  in  me  f  (John  xiv.  11).  Commenting  on 
this  remarkable  passage,  St.  Fulgentius  says  : 
* '  All  the  Father  is  in  the  Son  and  in  the  Holy- 
Ghost,  all  the  Son  is  in  the  Father  and  the  Holy- 
Ghost,  all  the  Holy  Ghost  is  in  the  Father  and 
the  Son." 

It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  i:)roofs.  Invest- 
ed with  authority  from  above  before  their  de- 
parture from  Jerusalem,  the  apostles  incorpo- 
rated the  divine  doctrine  in  their  Creed  and 
made  it  the  groundwork  of  all  their  teachings : 
''I  believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  and 
in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son,  our  Lord ;  I 
believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Their  successors 
in  the  Church,  inheriting  their  promises  and 
clothed  with  their  mission,  have  guarded  the 
august  mystery  for  nineteen  hundred  years, 
have  taught  it  to  the  entire  w^orld,  and  will 
continue  to  teach  it  until  time  itself  shall  cease 
to  run  and  the  human  race  shall  be  gathered 
into  its  eternal  home. 

Whenever  denied  in  any  age  the  Church  has 
always  reaffirmed  her  doctrine  by  the  decrees  of 
general  councils,  explained  it  by  the  writings  of 
her  doctors,  propagated  it  by  the  toil  of  her  mis- 
sionaries, honored  it  by  the  lives  of  her  religious 


196  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

men  and  women,  and  illustrated  it  by  the  blood 
of  millions  of  martyrs. 

Every  prayer,  all  rites  and  ceremonies,  pious 
undertakings,  good  works,  and  all  tlie  operations 
of  tke  religious  life  are  begun  and  ended  under 
the  invocation  of  the  august  name,  and  for  the 
simple  reason  that  the  name  of  tJie  Blessed  Trin- 
ity  is  God.  It  is  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  we  are 
made  children  of  Gfod  in  Ba]3tism,  that  we  are 
made  soldiers  of  Christ  ^in  Confirmation,  min- 
isters of  religion  in  Holy  Orders,  indissolubly 
united  in  the  Sacrament  of  Matrimony,  and  it  is 
in  this  name  our  sins  are  forgiven  in  Penance. 

In  this  holy  name  are  all  temptations  subdued, 
the  fiery  darts  of  the  most  wicked  one  turned 
away,  enemies  conquered,  dangers  overcome,  vir- 
tues acquired,  prayers  offered,  petitions  granted, 
and  miracles  wrought.  Constantly  holding  the 
most  profound  mystery  before  our  face  while 
living,  our  most  tender  mother,  the  Church,  bids 
the  trembling  soul  depart  in  peace  at  the  dread 
hour  of  death  in  its  invocation:  "Depart,  O 
Christian  soul  !  out  of  this  world,  in  the  name 
of  Grod  the  Father  who  created  thee,  in  the  name 
of  God  the  Son  who  redeemed  thee,  and  of  God 
the  Holy  Ghost  who  sanctified  thee."  It  is  in 
this   omnipotent  name  that  she  commits  to  the 


SIXTH   CONFERENCE.  197 

earth,  the  common  grave  of  all  mankind,  the  cold 
remains  of  all  her  children  who  have  died  in  peace. 
Invoked  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  this  vene- 
rable name  is  the  monogram  of  Christianity, 
the  test  of  the  true  faith,  and  the  banner  of 
man's  redemption.  God  knows  Himself,  else 
He  would  be  ignorant ;  He  loves  Himself,  or  He 
would  not  be  holy.  He  is  incessantly  the  sub- 
ject of  His  own  contemplation.  This  science  of 
Himself  never  passes  away  or  changes,  and  is  a 
divine  Person,  consubstantial  and  eternal.  This 
is  the  Father,  the  First  Person,  who  thus  knows 
and  contemplates  Himself. 

He  is  called  the  Father  because  from  this 
knowledge  of  His  being  and  perfections  is  form- 
ed a  full  and  x>erfect  similitude  of  Himself,  a 
real,  subsisting  person — the  Son,  consubstantial 
to  the  Father,  and  the  Second  Person. 

The  knowledge  and  contemplation  of  His  in- 
finite perfections  is  the  bliss  of  the  Father.  It  is 
mutual,  and  is  returned  in  the  self -same  way  by 
the  Son.  Love  meets  love.  The  act  is  consub- 
stantial to  both,  because  all  tliat  is  in  God  is 
God.  It  produces  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Third 
Person,  who  is  co-eternal  and  co-equal,  the  eter- 
nal bond  of  union,  the  limit  of  the  Deity,  and 
who  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  as  one 
principle. 


198  THE  BLESSED   TKHs'ITY. 

Tlie  Blessed  Trinity  is  God.  Man,  having 
been  made  to  tlie  image  and  likeness  of  God, 
illustrates  in  the  three  faculties  of  his  soul  the 
august  mystery.  Our  self-knowledge  and  our 
affections,  the  operations  of  our  understanding 
and  will,  shadow  forth  the  mystery,  evanescent 
in  us,  but  in  Him  permanent  and  immutable. 
The  generation  of  the  Son  is  produced  by  God's 
knowledge  of  Himself ;  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  by  God's  love  of  Himself — by  the 
love  of  both  Persons  united.  It  is  the  partici- 
pation of  this  unspeakable  mystery  that  con- 
stitutes the  felicity  of  the  saints  in  heaven  ;  its 
adoration  the  consolation  and  dignity  of  the 
Christian,  his  truth  and  worth,  on  earth. 

Eminent  divines  show  that  everything  in  all 
creation  is  an  image  of  the  Triune  God.  The 
world  shadows  forth  this  astounding  doctrine. 
The  free  acts  of  God  outside  are  a  likeness  of 
the  necessary  acts  of  God  within  Himself. 

All  creation  is,  in  a  manner,  a  son  of  God — 
a  knowledge  of  Himself  made  manifest.  It  re- 
flects His  image  and  represents  His  perfections 
so  clearly  that  we  are  inexcusable  if  we  do  not 
see  God  by  the  things  that  are  made  (Rom.  i. 
20).  Preservation,  which  is  only  a  going- on  or 
a  continuation  of  creation  or  the  creative  act, 
and  distinct  from  it  only  in  our  conceptions — an 


SIXTH   CONFEEENCE.  199 

indivisible  continuity — still  more  strikingly  ad- 
umbrates the  perpetual  generation  of  the  Son 
and  the  incessant  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  First  Person  is  always  and  eternally  gen- 
erating the  Son  ;  the  Second  Person  is  always 
and  eternally  being  generated  ;  the  Third  Per- 
son is  always  and  eternally  being  produced. 
Tliis  process  must  exist  and  never  cease  from  all 
eternity,  for  God  is  an  act,  a  simple  act. 

Creation,  grace  and  glory,  the  Incarnation, 
the  Blessed  Eucharist,  the  beatific  vision,  all 
tliat  we  see  around  us,  are  the  emblem  of  the 
Trinity  in  unity. 

From  its  birth  the  sun  simultaneously  emits 
light  and  heat,  exemx^lifying  that  even  in  nature 
tliere  exist  effects  co-existent  with  their  princi- 
ple. The  soul  is  simx^le  and  a  spirit,  yet  it  pos- 
sesses three  faculties — the  memory,  the  under- 
standing, and  the  will.  In  reasoning,  the  under- 
standing soul  is  exercised ;  in  remembering,  the 
recollecting  soul ;  and  in  loving,  the  willing  soul. 
These  are  not  three  souls,  but  one  with  three 
distinct  faculties,  illustrating  the  adorable  Tri- 
nity of  Persons  in  the  simplicity  of  the  divine 
Unity,  for  ''  He  made  man  to  His  own  image  and 
likeness." 

While  these  illustrations  do  not  pretend  to 
iniinvel  the  unfathomable  mystery,  they  never- 


200  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

tlieless  clearly  prove,  what  tlie  Churcli  teaches, 
that  this  mystery  is  not  contrary  to  but  above 
and  beyond  reason.  As  tlie  lieavens  are  exalted 
a'bove  the  earthy  so  are  God' s  ways  exalted  above 
our  ways^  and  His  tliougJits  above  our  tJiougJits 
(Isaias  Iv.  9).  0  the  deptli  of  the  riches  of  the 
wisdom  and  of  the  Icnoioledge  of  God  !  Hoio 
incomprehensiMe  are  His  judgments^  and  how 
unsearchable  His  ways  I  (Rom.  xi.  33). 

All  the  sanctities  of  heaven  are  incapable  of 
comprehending  this  august  mystery  ;  and  after 
millions  of  ages  passed  in  the  enraptured  con- 
temjplation  its  infinite  ocean  will  remain  unex- 
plored. There  remains  the  unknown  life  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity,  whose  waves  never  have 
broken  on  the  shores  of  time.  Faith  supplies 
the  defects  of  reason,  and  we  unhesitatingly 
believe  what  it  is  impossible  to  understand  on 
the  authority  of  God's  own  word  made  known 
to  us  by  His  Church,  the  infallible  teacher  of 
the  human  race  and  the  pillar  and  ground  of 
truth. 

Impiety  in  every  form  has  assailed  this  most 
profound  mystery  ;  but  its  principal  objections, 
as  silly  as  they  are  impious,  are  directed  alike 
against  all  religion,  against  the  very  being  of  our 
merciful  Father,  and  even  against  natural  truths 
and  scientific  facts. 


SIXTH  CONFEEENCE.  201 

Tlie  mysteries  contained  in  a  grain  of  sand 
have  never  been  fathomed  by  man's  intellect  or 
explained  by  science.  The  last  analysis  of  the 
raindrop  baffles  the  skill  of  the  chemist  and 
scorns  the  tortures  of  his  laboratory  in  the  per- 
sistent efforts  to  extort  its  secrets.  Based  chiefly 
on  a  false  intei^pretation  of  some  verses  of  Holy 
Writ,  a  specific  reply  is  not  only  not  necessary, 
but  would  be  an  insult  to  good  sense  and  to 
the  settled  convictions  of  our  race. 

I  select  one,  not  because  T  consider  it  impor- 
tant, but  its  apparent  plausibility  is  calculated  to 
impose  on  the  unwary  and  unsuspecting  non- 
Catholic,  whose  faith  rests  on  human  opinion 
only  and  is  unprotected  by  the  aegis  of  the 
Church.  It  is  blasphemously  asserted  that  the 
adorable  mystery  of  the  most  Holy  Trinity  con- 
tradicts the  vulgar  axiom:  ^* Things  which  are 
equal  to  the  same  or  to  a  third  are  equal  to  one 
another,"  and  there  may  be  no  distinction  of 
persons.  This  paltry  fallacy  not  only  ignores 
but  positively  misstates  the  Catholic  doctrine 
and  does  not  apply  at  all  to  the  question.  It 
would  force  paganism  on  us  ;  it  creates  three 
gods  for  our  acceptance  instead  of  the  most 
Holy  One. 

The  divine  nature  is  simple  and  indivisible. 
It  is  possessed  totally,  and  not  in  part,  by  each 
17 


202  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

Person.  There  are  not  three  but  only  one  God. 
There  is  no  third  at  all  to  which  a  comparison 
can  be  made.  ' '  The  Father  is  eternal,  the  Son 
is  eternal,  the  Holy  Grhost  is  eternal ;  and  they 
are  not  three  eternals,  but  one  eternal.  The  di- 
vine nature  and  all  the  attributes  are  common  to 
each  adorable  Person.  Show  us  the  Father,  and 
it  is  enough  for  uSy^dldi  the  apostle.  Then  our 
Lord  said  to  Philip  :  So  long  a  time  have  I  heen 
with  you,  and  have  you  not  known  me  f  Philip, 
he  that  seeth  me  seeth  the  Father  also.  And  in 
another  place  :  The  Father  and  I  are  one.  The 
personalities  are  not  absolute  perfections  ;  they 
are  most  assuredly  proper ;  they  are  relations  of 
ineffable  tenderness,  and  are  virtually  possessed 
by  each  divine  Person. 

In  the  divine  communications  that  are  inward 
each  imparts  indivisibly  and  totally  all  Himself 
without  losing  aught,  while  still  retaining  the 
propriety  of  the  personal  relation. 

Petavius,  in  his  sublime  Tract  on  the  Blessed 
Trinity,  and  other  doctors  who  treat  the  great 
mystery  extensively,  prove  the  essential  absurdi- 
ty of  this  objection  and  its  fallacy  in  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  offered  by  infidel  impiety. 

We  must  ever  remember  that  this  ineffable 
mystery  is  unquestionably  taught  us  by  the  Al- 
mighty, that  it  is  truth  itself  and  the  manner  of 


SIXTH   COI^'FEEENCE.  203 

God's  existence,  and  that  it  is  impossible  that  He 
could  exist  in  any  other  way. 

It  has  stood  the  test  of  human  reason  and  sci- 
ence for  nineteen  centuries  of  civilization,  and 
has  triumphed  over  the  world.  It  has  converted 
the  nations,  given  a  new  and  more  vigorous  im- 
pulse to  science,  literature,  and  art,  banished  the 
reign  of  idolatry,  vice,  and  superstition.  Like 
the  sun  in  the  heavens,  it  enlightens  the  universe 
and  it  can  never  perish  ;  for  the  Blessed  Trinity 
is  God  and  His  holy  name. 

Our  divine  Lord  never  undertook  to  explain 
this  adorable  mystery  ;  no  illustrations  could 
reduce  it  to  the  grasp  of  created  intellect,  not 
excepting  even  the  human  soul  of  our  divine 
Lord — how  much  less  the  angels  of  heaven  !  God 
alone  knows  Himself,  and  faith  alone  can  com- 
prehend Him  ;  it  is  the  light  of  His  face  shed  on 
man's  soul,  and  by  which  alone  can  we  see  or  un- 
derstand Him  who  inhctblteth  light  inaccessible. 

The  unbeliever  will  find  humble  and  fervent 
prayer  the  shortest  road  to  God  and  a  most 
convincing  proof.  Let  him  ask  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who  enligliteneth  every  man  that  cometh 
into  this  worlds  and  who  first  announced  to  us  in 
its  fulness  this  adorable  mystery.  His  prayer 
will  not  remain  unanswered,  for  the  promise  is 
made. 


204  THE   BLESSED   TEINITr. 

It  is  our  duty  and  our  privilege  to  honor  and 
adore  the  most  adorable  Trinity,  to  thank  Him  for 
making  Himself  known  to  us  ;  and  for  this  know- 
ledge, which  surpasses  all  human  understand- 
ing^ we  should  practise  all  it  inculcates,  especial- 
ly charity,  the  golden  bond  of  union  between 
Gfod,  ourselves,  and  our  brethren,  that  we  may 
see  Him  hereafter,  face  to  face,  whom  we  now 
believe  and  venerate  on  earth. 

*'  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  Holy  Ghost.  As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is 
now,  and  ever  shall  be,  one  God  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen."  This  is  the  grand  doxology  of  the 
Church,  in  which  are  gathered  all  her  belief,  all 
her  love,  all  her  adoration  in  the  most  succinct 
manner.  Such  is  the  termination  of  all  her 
hymns,  her  psalms,  and  her  canticles.  The  uni- 
versal anthem  resounds  from  age  to  age,  uttered 
by  the  lips  of  all  her  children  until  silenced  by 
the  cold  fingers  of  death.  But  the  ransomed  spi- 
rit resumes  it  in  a  higher  state,  and  joins  the 
heavenly  hosts  in  singing  it  for  evermore  before 
the  throne  of  the  most  holy  and  undivided 
Trinity. 

Loving  us  as  He  does,  there  still  exists  a 
greater  mystery  than  even  the  Teiune  God — 
that  His  rational  creature  should  not  return  His 
love,  but  refuse  to  serve  Him  and  spurn  His  ser- 


SIXTH  CONFERENCE.  205 

vice.  I  speak  of  a  mystery  in  the  moral  order 
— tlie  mystery  of  sin  and  of  a  hard  heart. 

The  Blessed  Trinity  created  ns  and  made  ns  to 
His  own.  likeness  ;  He  has  given  us  an  immortal 
soul  and  a  body  with  its  marvellous  senses. 
Heaven  and  earth,  time  and  eternity,  all  He  has 
is  ours — the  Church,  the  angels  and  saints,  the 
sacraments,  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  Je- 
sus ;  in  short,  all  He  has  and  all  He  is  belong 
to  His  children,  on  condition  that  they  accept 
them. 

Surely  to  reject  God  and  turn  away  from  the 
end  of  one's  creation  must  be  an  inconceivable 
disorder.  When  man  defeats  the  Blessed  Trin- 
ity, sets  himself  up  as  his  idol,  adores  some  base 
or  paltry  passion,  and  says,  /  will  not  serve^  his 
sin  is  great.  Sweet  Jesus,  save  us  from  the 
dread  impiety  ! 

The  Blessed  Trinity  is  our  Father  and  our  Cre- 
ator ;  His  very  bosom  is  our  home,  and  unless  we 
live  there  for  ever  our  unhappy  lot  will  be  with 
the  hopelessly  lost.  Yet  to  make  this  sad  choice 
costs  more  than  our  salvation.  The  separation 
from  God  is  an  ineffably  great  evil.  If  we  have 
sinned — and  who  has  not  sinned  ? — ^let  us  return 
to  Him  with  confidence.  He  who  sent  His  Son 
to  silffer  and  die  for  us  will  not  reject  us ;  a 
contrite  and  humble  heart  He  will  never  despise  ; 


206  THE  BLESSED   TKINITY. 

and  even  there  is  joy  in  heaven  before  the  angels 
of  Gfod  when  the  sinner  repents  of  his  sins. 

Blessed  be  the  most  holy    and  undivided 
Teinity,  now  and  for  evermore  !     Amen  ! 


CONFEEEl^OE  VII. 


ON  CREATION,  THE  FIRST  EXTERNAL  WORK  OF 
THE  BLESSED  TRINITY,  AND  ON  HIS  MOST 
JUST  FRO  VIDENCE. 


Creation  God's  first  external  Act — A  Production  from  Nothing — 
Matter  created  in  the  Beginning  and  fjvshioned  in  Time — 
Not  Eternal — Length  of  the  six  Days  an  open  Question — 
The  six  Days'  Work — Spontaneous  Productions  a  Falsehood — 
Vegetabfe,  Mineral,  and  Animal  Kingdoms — The  Creative  Germ 
— Primitive  Types  unchanged — God  and  Providence — One 
and  the  Same — He  governs  all  Things — Greatest  in  the  Least 
— Agar  and  Ismael — Misfortunes — Inequality  an  Exaggeration 
— Small  Difference  between  all  Conditions — Suffering  a  Law — 
The  Source  of  Moral  Greatness — The  Crucifixion  and  the 
Saints — Human  Life  a  Point — Providence  should  be  seen  in 
its  Totality — Moral  Reflections — Man's  Worth — Resignation  to 
the  Will  of  Providence — Conformity  Man's  noblest  Sacrifice — 
Embraces  all  Virtues — Suits  all  Conditions— Source  of  all 
Happiness — Resignation  in  Small  Things — Blessed  Father  Al- 
phonsus  Rodrigues,  etc.,  etc. 

He  spoke,  and  they  were  made  ;  He  commanded,  and  they  were 
created. — Psalm  cxlviii.  4. 

My  Brethren: 

Creation  is  Goer's  first  free  and  external  act. 
During  eternity  lie  dwelt  in  the  creatureless  soli- 


208  THE  BLESSED   ITRINITT. 

tude  of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  The  act  did  not 
increase  His  essential  bliss.  From  benevolence, 
and  a  desire  to  possess  children  capable  of  know- 
ing and  loving  Him  and  becoming  sharers  in  His 
own  happiness,  He  broke  the  everlasting  silence 
of  His  reign,  sounded  the  loud  creative  mandate, 
and  by  a  simple  act  of  His  will  called  all  things 
from  nothing. 

Like  all  external  acts,  it  is  the  production  of 
the  Three  Persons  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  com- 
bined. Creation  has  always  been  a  riddle  to  hu- 
man learning  and  philosophy.  The  light  of  rea- 
son has  never  been  able  to  explain  the  origin  of 
the  world;  all  the  famous  scholars  of  ancient 
times  grossly  erred  on  the  subject,  except  Plato, 
who  was  acquainted,  probably,  with  the  sacred 
writings  which  furnished  the  most  accurate  in- 
formation on  the  subject  worthy  of  God  and  of 
man.  Modem  unbelievers  labor  to  contradict 
the  grand  and  simple  narrative  by  renewing  the 
exploded  errors  of  pagan  antiquity  and  adding 
others  borrowed  from  every  department  of  na- 
ture— errors  of  philosophy,  errors  of  history,  of 
anthology,  of  chronology.  Nothing  has  been  left 
undone  to  establish  a  contradiction  between  reve- 
lation and  natural  science  on  this  great  mystery, 
the  first  external  word  spoken  by  Jehovah.  The 
theories  of  one  generation  are  exploded  by  the 


SEVENTH   CONFERENCE.  209 

next,  and  neither  geology  nor  any  other  science 
has  disproved  a  single  statement  in  Holy  Writ. 

In  the  heg inning  God  created  Jteaven  and 
earth  (Gen.  i.  1).  This  is  the  first  and  one  of  the 
greatest  truths  expressed  in  created  language. 
It  places  the  sacred  Penman  infinitely  higher 
than  all  human  science  and  systems. 

The  idea  of  creator  is  incomprehensible  to  the 
human  mind.  Pagan  philosophy,  which  ex- 
hausted all  tlie  powers  of  reason,  never  reached 
it.  Those  great  men  who  are  justly  admired  by 
all  generations  for  wisdom  and  learning  traced 
the  origin  of  the  world  to  chaos,  or  j^rimary  and 
uncreated  nature.  They  maintained  that  the  di- 
vine energy  organized  this  matter,  but  they  were 
ignorant  that  it  was  itself  created  from  nothing. 

The  heavens,  although  made  simultaneously 
with  the  earth,  seem  to  belong  to  a  period  ante- 
rior to  tlie  six  days'  work.  We  do  not  doubt 
that  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and  the  stars  were 
made  before  our  time,  and,  indeed,  before  the 
time  of  man  at  all.  *'The  universe,  created  in 
the  beginning  and  before  all  time,  was  adorned 
and  fashioned  in  time,"  says  the  learned  Boss uet. 

According  to  commentators,  Moses  uses  the 
word  to  ''create"  or  '^ produce  from  nothing" 
only  in  relation  to  this  fact.  It  refers  to  the  ori- 
ginal production  of  all  things  from  nothing  in  an 


210  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

inclioate  condition.  When  describing  God  as  or- 
ganizing pre-existent  matter  and  producing  tliere- 
from  every  variety  of  beings  the  sacred  writer 
uses  the  word  to  "  form"  or  "fashion." 

The  Hebrew  word  *'Bara,"  to  create  from  no- 
thing, is  always  used  in  Holy  Writ  to  designate 
creation  in  its  strict  sense.  /  beseecJi  thee,  my 
son,  said  the  pious  mother  of  the  Machabees, 
looJc  upon  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  that  is  in 
them,  and  consider  that  God  made  them  out  of 
nothing  (ii.  vii.  28).  In  six  days  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  things 
that  are  in  them  (Exod.  xx.  11). 

To  create  properly  means  to  give  existence  to 
things  that  did  not  exist  previously — to  produce 
from  nothing.  Such  is  the  true  idea  of  creation 
as  furnished  by  all  authentic  sources  of  truth — 
by  the  Scriptures,  the  Creeds,  the  Fathers,  the 
general  councils,  the  popes,  and  by  all  reliable 
modes  of  teaching  authorized  by  the  Church. 

The  word  ''nothing,"  used  in  the  definitions 
of  the  Church  on  this  subject,  is  negative,  in  con- 
contradiction  to  being  or  existence.  It  has  never 
been  used  in  a  positive  signification.  ' '  When  a 
thing  is  said  to  be  produced  from  nothing,"  says 
St.  Thomas,  "  this  means  a  relation  or  order,  and 
not  a  material  cause."  The  Vatican  Council  pro- 
nounces an  anathema  against  any  one  "  who  de- 


SEVEI^TH   CONFERENCE.  211 

nies  that  Gfod  created  all  things,  and  in  all  their 
substance,  from  nothing."  It  is  of  faith  that  the 
power  to  create  belongs  to  God  only,  and  that  the 
world  could  be  created  and  formed  by  Him  only, 
the  sole  and  efficient  cause  of  all  creation.  The 
Most  High  Omnipotent  Creator  is  one  God  (Gen.) 
/  ar/i  the  Lord  that  make  all  things^  that  alone 
stretch  out  the  heavens^  that  establish  the  earth 
(Isaias  xliv.  24).  God  created  all  tilings  (Heb.  iii.) 
To  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  added  the  authority  of 
the  councils  of  Nice  and  Constantinople:  ''I 
believe  in  one  God,  maker  of  heaven  and  earth, 
and  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible."  It  is 
unnecessary  to  add  the  unanimous  testimony  of 
the  Fathers  on  this  important  head.  I  will  con- 
tent myself  with  one  unanswerable  proof,  fur- 
nished by  human  reason  and  selected  from  many 
others. 

The  world  is  limited,  for  it  consists  of  limited 
parts,  and  therefore  it  is  accidental,  liable  to 
change,  and  it  is  dependent.  It  must  be  the 
work  of  another,  in  matter  and  form,  who  is  its 
co-efficient  cause  and  produced  it.  What  has 
been  j^roduced  did  not  exist  at  a  certain  time 
and  must  have  had  a  beginning,  must  have 
passed  from  possibility  to  existence.  What  is 
thus  produced  must  have  come  from  nothing, 
and  consequently  in  time  or  at  the  beginning  of 


212  THE  BLESSED   TEIISriTY. 

time.  Tliis  plain  argument  refutes  all  impious 
theories  of  unbelievers  regarding  creation.  We 
must  admit  that  God  created  the  world  from  no- 
thing either  in  time  or  with  it. 

Creation  clearly  manifests  the  power  and  wis- 
dom of  God.  The  former  is  conspicuous  in 
the  creation  of  matter,  and  the  latter  in  the 
beauty  and  forms  into  which  it  was  subsequently 
shaped. 

The  length  of  the  six  days  is  not  decided. 
The  period  of  time  during  which  the  earth  was 
void  and  empty,  and  before  the  sun  was  created 
on  the  fourth  day,  is  an  open  question,  regard- 
ing which  there  are  various  opinions  tolerated  by 
the  Church.  The  Church  has  determined  on  no 
certain  period  as  of  faith,  but  there  seem  to  be 
no  solid  grounds  for  departing  from  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  word  ''day"  after  the  crea- 
tion of  the  sun. 

It  is  of  faith  that  God  created  the  universe  in 
six  different  periods  of  time  ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  He  organized  matter  instantly  after  its  pro- 
duction from  nothing. 

In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven — that  is, 
according  to  the  teaching  of  the  Fathers,  the  in- 
visible world  of  angels,  the  first-born  sons  of 
God,  whose  trial,  fall,  and  triumphs  are  related 
elsewhere.     Suppose  your  guardian  angel  is  the 


SEVENTH   CONFERENCE.  213 

least  in  heaven  ;  he  is  coeval  with  time,  surpasses 
in  wisdom  the  entire  human  race,  in  splendor  all 
the  millions  of  orbs  ever  made  ;  the  sight  of  him 
would  throw  all  the  people  in  the  world  into  an 
ecstasy.  Every  implement  of  industry  would 
fall  from  the  hand,  all  pursuits  would  cease,  and 
every  eye  would  gaze  on  him  with  more  wonder 
than  that  of  the  man  born  blind  when  he  first 
saw  the  sun. 

There  are  nine  orders  of  these  celestial  spirits, 
so  numerous  as  to  be  simply  short  of  the  in- 
finite. Heaven  and  earth  and  all  creation  is 
densely  poj^ulated  with  these  princes  of  eter- 
nity, prodigies  of  divine  love  and  power. 

Next  were  created  the  visible  heavens  —  this 
magnificent  collection  of  starry  worlds,  some  so 
remote  that,  with  all  its  unimaginable  speed,  a 
ray  of  light  from  them  has  not  yet  reached  us 
since  the  morning  of  creation.  Two  glasses  re- 
veal to  the  eye  in  the  starry  vaults  of  heaven  and 
in  the  rocky  precipices  of  a  grain  of  sand  marvels 
of  creation  that  fill  the  mind  with  awe  and  wonder. 

The  historian  of  creation  and  of  our  origin  has 
not  written  the  annals  of  these  myriads  of  worlds 
that  revolve  in  their  orbits  about  their  suns  ;  he 
gives  us  a  date  only :  God  created  in  the  finna- 
ment  of  heaven  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars 
(Genesis). 


214  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

The  Omnipotent  created  light  immediately : 
And  Ood  said^  Be  light  made^  and  liglit  was 
made.  This  is  the  most  sublime  passage  ever 
written  in  human  language.  The  closest  ap- 
proximation to  it  is  the  Apollo  of  Phidias  in 
sculpture  ;  there  is  no  effort  displayed  in  the 
performance  of  the  greatest  work.  At  the  same 
time  fire,  air,  and  all  the  other  elements  streamed 
forth  from  His  powerful  hand. 

The  divine  Architect  next  created  the  waters 
of  the  firmament,  the  fountains  and  oceans  and 
streams.  He  divided  them  and  called  the  gather- 
ing together  of  the  waters  seas.  He  filled  them 
with  fishes  of  various  sizes  and  species. 

After  having  divided  the  waters  Grod  created 
the  dry  land,  which  He  called  the  earth.  Here 
we  find  three  kingdoms — the  mineral,  the  vege- 
table, and  the  animal.  In  the  mineral  kingdom 
God  created  immediately  gold,  silver,  marble, 
iron,  granite,  precious  stones,  and  all  minerals. 
In  the  vegetable  order  He  created  all  trees  and 
plants,  from  the  cedar  of  Libanus  to  the  tiniest 
herb,  each  in  its  own  kind  and  species.  In  the 
animal  kingdom  the  Omnipotent  created  every 
winged  fowl  according  to  its  kind,  from  the  eagle 
that  nestles  amid  inaccessible  rocks  to  the  hum- 
ming-bird hiding  its  young  under  the  garden 
flower ;  and  all  other  animals,  from  the  lion  and 


SEVENTH  CONFEREI^CE.  215 

the  elephant  to  the  tiniest  insect  crawling  on  the 
brink  of  a  leaf. 

What  are  styled  spontaneous  productions,  re- 
garding which  modern  infidels  clamor  so  loudly, 
are  a  mere  chimera.  The  hair  of  an  animal  never 
became  a  living  creature.  Mill  and  the  most 
eminent  scientists  of  our  day,  in  their  report  to 
the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  affirm  that, 
'*  after  many  experiments,  they  have  ascertained 
that  in  the  entire  animal  kingdom  there  exists 
no  such  thing  as  spontaneous  generation  or  pro- 
duction ;  that  all  living  animals,  the  largest  and 
the  least,  are  governed  by  the  same  law  and  can 
only  exist  when  produced  by  other  living  be- 
ings." 

On  the  sixth  day,  after  the  creation  of  all 
other  beings,  and  when  the  world  was  furnished 
and  adorned  like  a  magnificent  palace,  the 
Adorable  Trinity  paused  and  took  counsel  with- 
in Himself.  He  is  about  to  introduce  into  the 
world  its  Idng,  who  will  have  dominion  and  rule 
over  all  other  creatures,  and  whom  all  things 
must  serve  and  obey.  A  word  was  sufficient 
to  bring  forth  light  from  darkness,  and  now 
the  adorable  Trinity  deliberates  by  the  cradle 
of  humanity.  He  who  seemed  but  to  disport 
with  His  works  in  the  creation  of  millions  of 
systems    '*is    collected    within    Himself,"    says 


216  THE  BLESSED  TRIlSriTY. 

Tertullian.  ''  He  said^  Let  us  make  man  to  our 
image  and  likeness.  The  deliberation  is  solemn 
and  tlie  expression  mysterious." 

The  Blessed  Trinity  has  eminently  displayed 
His  divine  unity  in  the  creation  of  man.  All 
the  various  kingdoms  and  natures  are  combined 
in  Him.  All  orders  of  being  meet  in  us.  What 
more  different  than  a  spirit  and  dust  1  The  soul 
of  man  and  angels  are  spirits.  In  one  hand  Grod 
took  the  soul  of  man,  whose  best  likeness  is  a 
thought,  and  in  the  other  a  little  clay,  and  He 
united  them  so  intimately  that  their  combination 
forms  but  one  and  the  self-same  being — man. 

It  is  at  this  very  point  that  He  reunites  all 
in  Himself,  because  He  became  man  and  all 
creation  meets  in  the  sacred  humanity  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  Him^  and  hy  Him^  and  through 
Him  are  all  things. 

The  Almighty  Father  having  created  all  things 
by  His  word  only — the  animals,  the  trees,  the 
plants — He  imparted  to  each  of  these  primitive 
types  the  power  to  reproduce  itself  :  the  creative 
germ,  to  perpetuate  itself  to  the  end  of  time. 

Increase  and  multiply,  and  fill  the  earth,  was 
the  powerful  blessing  imparted  to  the  birds  of 
the  air,  the  fish  of  the  waters,  to  man  and  all 
animate  existence.  In  order  to  perpetuate  the 
works   of    creation    to   the   end   of    ages    God 


SEVENTH   CONFERENCE.  217 

communicatecl  to  all  the  creative  germ,  or  the 
power  of  reproducing  themselves.  God  also 
established  universal  laws,  like  attraction  and 
gravitation,  which  the  wisdom  of  His  provi- 
dence maintains  firm  and  unalterable  for  the 
conservation  of  all  things. 

By  virtue  of  these  laws  and  of  the  creative 
principle  plants,  animals,  and  men,  all  original 
types  and  primitive  creatures,  are  preserved  un- 
changed to  the  i^resent  hour  and  will  be  pre- 
served to  the  end  of  time.  They  are  created  by 
the  Blessed  Trinity,  but  indirectly  or  mediately 
by  the  marvellous  participation  of  His  own  jkdw- 
er.  Every  plant  and  flower  of  the  field  still, 
after  six  thousand  years,  reproduces  itself  at 
spring,  despite  of  winter's  ice  and  cold.  Every 
animal  in  i^lain  or  forest,  every  fish  that  swims 
the  ocean  stream  or  disports  in  moonlit  rapids, 
every  bird  tliat  carols  in  the  sky,  all  sing  a  hymn 
of  universal  i)raise  to  the  Father  of  all,  and  ut- 
ter with  man  the  sublime  truth:  In  Him  we 
Uve^  and  move^  and  are. 

After  having  created  this  world  so  fair  and 
beautiful  the  Blessed  Trinity  did  not  abandon 
it  to  blind  chance,  haphazard,  or  fortune.  He 
governs  all  things  by  His  providence,  presides 
over  the  laws  instituted  for  their  i^reservation, 
and  conducts  all  to  their  end. 

18 


218  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

Providence  is  so  essential  to  the  divine  nature, 
and  so  inseparable  from  God  as  creator,  that 
without  it  He  would  be  no  Grod  at  all,  but  un- 
just, weak,  and  ignorant — the  Grod  of  the  Stoics, 
or  the  stern  First  Cause  of  the  other  philoso- 
phers, as  indifferent  to  human  affairs  as  the 
marble  statue  of  Jove.  To  impute  this  cold 
indifference,  weakness  and  inability  to  redress 
wrongs,  or  an  ignorance  of  His  own  works  and  of 
human  affairs,  to  the  Father  of  mercies  is  ex- 
treme impiety. 

Our  Lord  dwells  in  the  highest  heavens  ;  His 
will  is  the  only  limit  of  His  power,  and  all  His 
eternal  decrees  are  accomplished.  Nothing  can 
resist  Him  (Phil.  i.  2).  His  wisdom  is  infinite. 
In  a  glance  He  beholds  the  past,  the  present, 
and  the  future.  Before  Him  all  space  is  but  a 
point,  all  time  but  a  moment.  All  tilings  are 
Qiaked  and  open  to  His  eyes  (Heb.  iv.  13).  He 
is  great  in  strength,  and  in  judgment,  and  in 
justice  (Job  xxxvii.  23). 

It  is  impossible  that  He  can  be  indifferent  to 
the  sins  that  violate  His  laws  or  to  the  injustice 
that  tarnishes  His  works.  His  all-seeing  eye  be- 
holds the  just  and  the  unjust,  and  He  will  render 
unto  every  man  according  to  his  works. 

Grod  and  His  providence  are  identical.  Eea- 
son,  revelation,  and  the  common  consent  of  man- 


SEVENTH   CONFERENCE.  219 

kind,  as  well  lis  liuman  instinct  itself,  leave  no 
room  to  doubt  this  all-consoling  fact.     ''O  my 
God !  "  is  the  voice  of  every  heart  in  moments  of 
danger,  of  sorrow  and  suffering.     This  sentiment 
is  innate,  engraven  on  the  soul  by  the  very  hand 
of  God.     It  is  independent  of  all  reasoning  and 
antecedent  to  reflection.      It  is  born  with  us, 
grows    with    our  growth,   and  at  the  hour  of 
death    is    the    wing    that    wafts  the  departing 
spirit  to  its  origin  and  end,  the  bosom  of  the 
Blessed  Trinity.      The  human  race  are  in  har- 
mony on  the  existence  of   Providence,    though 
differing   in   details  and  erring  in   concej^tions. 
God  and  Providence  are  considered  synonyms. 
Examine  the  customs,  the  manners,  and  the  re- 
ligious rites  of  all  nations  that  ever  existed  ;  every- 
where you  will  hear  the  voice  of  prayer  and  sup- 
plication to  the  Father  of  mercies  for  protection 
from  dangers  or  else  in  thanksgiving  for  favors. 
Not  only   Judaism  and   Christianity  but  even 
all  pagan  nations  attest  the  fact.     This  consoling 
mystery  supports  us  under  all  trials  and  adversi- 
ties, because  we  are  convinced  that  an  all-wise 
God  can  permit  nothing  to  happen  without  the 
highest  reason  ;  and,  indeed.  He  often  makes  use 
of  human  events  to  exercise  His  just  judgments 
over    men,    though    He    defers  their  execution 
generally  to  His  mysterious  eternity. 


220  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

His  designs  are  all  merciful,  and,  being  entire 
in  every  act,  He  can  do  nothing  without  good- 
ness any  more  than  without  power  and  wisdom. 
This  doctrine  was  more  clearly  inculcated  by  our 
blessed  Lord  teaching  us  to  thank  and  adore  our 
heavenly  Father,  wlio  directs  our  destiny,  watch- 
es for  our  preservation,  provides  for  our  every 
want,  is  interested  in  our  trials,  and  is  the  jast 
judge  of  every  action  and  thought. 

II. 

With  the  exception  of  some  few  of  the  philo- 
sophers, it  was  rather  by  excess  that  pagan  anti- 
quity erred  on  this  mystery ;  everything  was 
God  except  Grod  Himself.  But  under  th-eir  su- 
perstitions lies  hidden  a  great  truth,  which  St. 
Paul  expressed  in  superhuman  eloquence  to  the 
Athenians. 

The  unknown  God  to  whose  honor  you  have 
erected  this  altar  is  He  who  giveth  to  all  life 
and  hreatli  and  all  things.  We  touch  and  feel 
Him  every  instant,  because  He  is  intimately 
present  to  each  of  us.  For  in  Him  we  live  and 
move  and  are  (Acts  xvii.)  Language  cannot, 
could  not,  convey  a  clearer  proof  of  the  watchful 
providence  of  God  over  every  human  being  and 
over  all  other  things,  little  and  great.    Among 


SEVENTH   CONFERENCE.  221 

creatures  there  is  nothing  small  in  the  sight  of 
Gfod.  Whole  and  entire  in  every  atom,  "He  is 
not  greater  in  the  angel  and  less  in  the  worm," 
says  St.  Augustine.  Great  in  great  things  and 
greatest  in  the  least  is  axiomatic. 

The  chosen  people,  who  were  the  depositary 
of  the  divine  promises  and  were  taught  by  the 
prophets,  always  adored  the  providence  of  God, 
who,  after  having  placed  man  on  earth  that  he 
might  earn  a  glorious  immortality  by  the  sweat 
Qf  his  brow,  has  not  forsaken  him  in  his  trials 
and  sufferings. 

Truly  the  God  of  ancient  Israel,  the  God  who 
spake  from  amid  thunders  and  lightnings,  is  not 
to  be  desi)ised :  Tlie  Lord  your  God^  He  is  the 
God  of  gods  and  the  Lord  of  lords ^  a  great  God 
and  mighty  and  terrible,  who  accepteth  no  per- 
son nor  taketh  bribes  (Deut.  x.  17).  Thou  art 
terrible,  and  who  shall  resist  thee  f  (Psalm  Ixxv. 
8).  He  menaces  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating 
and  converting  the  sinner  ;  but  He  is  essentially 
the  God  of  love.  He  provides  for  us  not  only  in 
general  and  as  a  multitude,  but  singly  and  indi- 
vidually. Divine  Providence  is  centred  in  each 
as  though  each  were  the  end  of  all  creation. 

The  Blessed  Trinity  is  not  only  the  God  of  the 
universe ;  He  is  also  the  God  of  Abraham,,  and  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Jacob  (Exodus  iii.  6).     After  having 


222  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

chosen  Israel  He  becomes  Ms  lawgiver  (Psalm 
xxxiii.  22) ;  He  is  witli  His  people  in  all  tlieir 
necessities  and  fortunes  ;  He  admonishes,  repri- 
mands, rewards,  and  chastises  them,  and  He  in- 
terests Himself  in  all  the  trials  and  conflicts  of 
His  creatures.  The  Holy  Grhost,  in  the  Canticle 
of  Moses,  displays  in  the  most  touching  lan- 
guage the  tenderness,  compassion,  and  many 
other  features  of  this  ineffable  attribute.  ''  Re- 
member the  days  of  old  ;  .  .  .  ask  thy  Father,  and 
He  will  declare  to  thee  "  what  the  Lord  has  done 
for  thee.  ''He  found  Jacob" — the  children  of 
Jacob,  that  is — "  in  a  desert  land,  a  place  of  hor- 
ror and  of  waste  wilderness.  He  led  him  about 
and  taught  him,  and  He  kept  him  as  the  apple  of 
His  eye"  (Deut.  xxxii.  7-11).  To  teach  us  how 
to  approach  Him  He  imitates  the  eagle,  bearing 
its  young  in  its  talons,  hovering  over  them,  and 
sustaining  them  in  their  flight. 

He  exerts  the  tender  solicitude  of  a  father  and 
a  mother  for  each  one  of  us.  He  enables  us  to 
advance  daily  in  wisdom  and  perfection,  and  to 
resemble  Him  more  and  more.  After  having  cre- 
ated us  to  His  own  image  and  likeness.  He  en- 
courages us  to  bear  worthily  the  honor  of  our 
descent  and  to  attain  to  the  height  of  our  glori- 
ous destiny. 

~No  man  travels  alone  on  the  journey  of  human 


SEVENTH   CONFERENCE.  223 

life  like  an  orphan  or  an  outcast.  There  is  a 
Presence  that  is  more  intimate  with  him  than  he 
is  with  himself,  who  knows  him  as  no  other  can, 
and  in  whom  he  confides  as  he  can  confide  in 
no  other.  If  there  be  one  who  has  lost  all  human 
hoi)e,  every  staff  of  strength,  the  most  wretched 
of  his  race,  even  he  can  exclaim  with  the  Psalm- 
ist: My  father  and  my  mother  have  left  me,  hut 
the  Lord  hath  taken  me  up  (xxvi.  10). 

Like  David,  persecuted  by  the  caprice  and 
jealousy  of  a  merciless  and  powerful  enemy, 
feigning  madness  and  burying  himself  among 
rocks  and  mountains  to  save  his  life,  the  most 
desolate  should  exclaim :  The  Lord  ruleth  me 
and  I  shall  loant  nothing  (Psalm  xxii.  1). 
For  though  I  should  walk  in  the  midst  of  the 
shadow  of  deaths  I  lo ill  fear  no  evils ^  for  Thou 
art  with  me  (Psalm  xxii.  4). 

If  the  adversity  be  desperate  and  the  trial  be- 
yond measure,  contemplate  Agar  in  the  wilder- 
ness. She  was  an  outcast,  refused  shelter  near 
human  abode,  had  lost  everything  but  her  poor 
boy,  now  perishing  with  thirst.  She  withdrew 
and  turned  away  her  face,  that  she  might  not  see 
his  dying  agony.  S7ie  said^  I  toill  not  see  the 
hoy  die,  and  sitting  over  against,  she  lifted  up 
her  voice  and  loept  (Genesis  xxi.  16).  At  this 
moment  God  heard  the  cry  of  the  mother  and  the 


224  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

weeping  of  the  child.  Angels  point  out  to  this 
most  desolate  of  mothers  a  fountain  of  water; 
she  moistens  the  parched  lips  of  her  son  and  he 
is  restored.  Agar  and  Ismael,  and  their  descend- 
ants to  this  day,  are  mindful  of  Him  who  from 
high  heaven  heard  and  had  compassion.  Hu- 
manity, wandering  in  the  wilderness  of  this  life 
and  consumed  by  thirst,  will  always  experi- 
ence the  mercy  of  God,  who  unceasingly  watches 
over  it. 

Our  Lord  in  the  divine  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
in  language  simple  and  sublime,  tender  and  pro- 
found, illustrates  this  secret  of  Gfod  which  un- 
ravels all  the  difSlculties  of  the  social  order.  The 
lilies  of  the  field  are  clothed  with  a  beauty 
which  King  Solomon  could  not  rival.  Our  hea- 
venly Father  feeds  the  birds  of  the  air  ;  not  a 
sparrow  can  fall  to  the  earth  without  His  permis- 
sion. Our  merciful  Grod  is  exhibited  in  the  Gos- 
pel, not  indifferent  to  His  works  or  inaccessible 
to  His  children,  but  always  intimately  present, 
seeing  and  knowing  and  governing  all  things. 
His  care  and  providence  extended  over  all  his 
creatures,  the  just  and  the  unjust,  the  bird  of 
the  forest  and.  the  lily  of  the  field. 

But  his  deepest  solicitude  is  for  the  weak,  the 
friendless,  and  the  persecuted.  He  claims  in  an 
especial  manner  to  be  the  protector  of  the  widow 


SEVENTH  CONFEEENCE.  225 

and  the  orphan.  Wherever  is  found  some  deso- 
late one  who  weex3s  unseen  and  is  therefore 
friendless,  God  Himself  wipes  away  that  tear 
and  becomes  his  friend  and  consolation.  I  have 
heard  thy  praiier  and  I liave  seen  thy  tears  (4 
Kings  XX.  5). 

Who  that  has  not  experienced  many  times 
during  life  the  miraculous  interference  of  Provi- 
dence in  his  behalf?  The  sorrows  He  consoles, 
the  injuries  He  redresses,  the  tears  he  wipes 
away,  the  consolation  and  assistance  which  he 
timely  imparts,  make  up  the  history  of  every 
individual  life.  Our  lips  sigh  into  His  ear,  our 
tears  fall  upon  His  bosom ;  He  sustains  us 
when  we  falter,  heals  our  wounds,  turns  our 
trials  into  blessings  and  our  chastisements  into 
mercies.  How  can  we  question  the  infinite  com- 
passion of  God  when  He  sent  His  only-begotten 
Son  to  suffer  and  die  for  us  ? 

Grave  doubts  often  assail  even  virtuous  people 
regarding  the  justice  of  divine  Providence,  who 
often  i)ermits  the  good  to  suffer  and  the  wicked 
to  prosper  in  this  world.  Virtue  oppressed  and 
iniquity  triumphant,  the  noblest  efforts  defeat- 
ed, merit  pining  in  obscurity  or  want,  pampered 
vice  tmmpling  under  its  heel  all  that  is  good  and 
great — this  is  the  history  of  the  world.  How 
reconcile  this  inequality  with  a  Providence  so 

19J 


226  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

wise,  SO  powerful,  and  so  just?  This  objection 
is  most  forcibly  offered  in  Eccles.  iv.  1 :  J  saw 
the  oppressions  that  are  done  under  the  su% 
and  the  tears  of  the  innocent^  and  they  had  no 
comforter ;  and  they  were  not  able  to  resist 
their  violence,  being  destitute  of  help  from 
any, 

A  few  facts  solve  tlie  entire  difficulty ;  the  light 
of  faith  enlightens  all  the  darkness  of  the  mys- 
tery and  makes  it  resplendent  with  the  evidences 
of  infinite  Justice.  The  permission  of  evil  is 
based  on  man's  free-will,  without  which  angels 
and  men  could  have  no  merit.  A  heaven  of 
saints  ready  made  is  not  God's  plan.  Moral 
evils  are  our  creation,  introduced  by  the  dis- 
obedience of  our  first  parents,  and  our  condi- 
tion is  aggravated  by  our  personal  transgressions, 
for  we  suffer  for  each  other's  sins.  A  sin  less  is  a 
universal  good,  and  one  saint  a  special  mercy  to 
the  human  race. 

Viewed  in  all  its  aspects,  the  condition  of  men 
is  more  fairly  balanced  than  outward  appearances 
would  indicate.  The  inequality  is  more  apparent 
than  real — it  is  exaggerated.  Honorable  poverty 
is  preferable  to  iniquitous  wealth,  industry  to 
sloth  and  indolence,  and  health  to  luxurious  dis- 
ease ;  virtue  and  a  good  conscience  to  all  earthly 
goods,    ^ay  not  before  the  angel^   There  is  no 


SEVENTH  CONFERENCE.  227 

Promdence^  lest  God  he  angry  at  thy  words  and 
destroy  all  the  worJcs  of  thy  hands  (Eccles.  v.  6). 

The  prosperity  of  the  wicked  is  the  result  of  a 
most  just  and  equitable  law.  Scarcely  one  ever 
lived  who  has  not  done  some  good  which  infinite 
Justice  will  reward  here  or  hereafter.  The  wick- 
ed receive  their  reward  in  this  life  for  whatever 
good  they  have  done,  and  are  punished  hereafter 
for  their  unrepented  evils. 

The  very  best  sin  in  many  ways,  and  every  sin 
is  punished.  The  virtuous  who  repent,  and  the 
general  tenor  of  whose  lives  is  upright,  are  chas- 
tised with  temporal  sufferings  and  rewarded  in 
heaven. 

This  life  is  not  the  end  of  man's  existence  ; 
comi^ared  to  his  futurity  it  is  almost  nothing. 
*' Impious  and  holy  kings  have  sat  on  the  same 
throne  to  show  that  worldly  honors  are  not  a 
proof  of  God's  favor."  This  life  is  a  place  of 
trial,  where  suffering  is  the  lot  of  the  good  and 
even  the  sure  pledge  of  God's  love.  Amen, 
amen^  I  say  to  you  that  you  shall  lament  and 
weejp^  hut  the  world  shall  rejoice  (John  xvi.  20). 
The  eight  beatitudes  have  for  ever  settled  this 
question. 

Suffering  is  a  law  of  the  Incarnation.  The 
greatest  saints  have  always  endured  the  greatest 
hardships    and    suffered   the  most.      Abraham, 


228  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

Abel,  Isaac,  Moses,  Job,  all  the  propliets  of  the 
Old  Law  down  to  the  Baptist,  suffered  in  divers 
ways  and  many  nnto  death.  The  Blessed  Virgin 
endured  more  than  all  the  martyrs ;  the  apos- 
tles, the  martyrs,  the  confessors,  the  virgins,  all 
the  saints  sanctified  themselves  by  enduring  all 
manner  of  evils  from  Satan,  from  the  world,  and 
from  their  inherent  imperfections.  Our  Lord 
was  crucified ;  He  is  our  Gfod  and  our  model, 
and  we  are  called  upon  by  our  profession  to  take 
up  our  cross  daily  and  follow  Him,  because  it  is 
by  many  tribulations  that  we  must  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  Grod. 

How  is  it  possible  to  practise  patience  and  the 
other  virtues  unless  occasions  of  doing  so  are  fre- 
quently presented  ?  It  is  by  trial  and  temptation 
that  all  virtues  are  strengthened.  The  persecu- 
tions and  injustices  of  men  have  adorned  the 
Church  and  given  most  of  the  saints  to  heaven. 
No  cross,  no  crown,  is  a  maxim.  Because  thou 
wast  acceptahle  to  God  it  was  necessary  that 
temptation  should  prove  thee,  said  St.  Eaphael 
to  Tobias  (xii.  13). 

The  Grospel  explains  this  mystery  in  many 
places,  especially  in  the  parable  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus.  One  was  prosperous  and  happy  on 
earth,  the  other  poor  and  wretched.  The  rich 
man  dies  and  is  buried  in  helL     He  begs  for  a 


SEVENTH   COT^FEKENCE.  229 

single  drop  of  water  to  qiiencli  his  thirst,  for  he 
is  grievously  tormented  in  the  flames.  Lazaras, 
who,  covered  with  ulcers,  begged  the  fragments 
that  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table,  dies  also,  and 
is  borne  by  angels  to  the  bosom  of  Abraham, 
where  he  possesses  endless  bliss. 

Tliere  is  a  day  appointed  when  God  will  raise 
the  dead  and  render  unto  every  man  according 
to  his  works.  Then  will  divine  Providence  be 
vindicated  before  men  and  angels,  all  things  will 
be  explained,  and  both  the  blessed  and  the  lost 
mil  confirm  the  justice  of  His  judgments  and  all 
His  dispensations.  The  unveiled  vision  of  the 
entire  economy  of  their  lives  in  the  divine  es- 
sence will  fill  the  blessed  with  wonder  for  all 
eternity.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  drop  could  not 
be  spared  from  the  cup  of  earthly  sorrow  with- 
out lessening  the  eternal  recompense.  Essential 
holiness,  no  injustice  will  be  discovered  in  Him 
who  will  reward  the  cup  of  cold  water  and  punish 
every  idle  word  ever  spoken. 

The  triumphs  of  the  sinner  are  transitory  and 
will  be  followed  by  everlasting  confusion,  and 
the  sufferings  of  the  just  but  momentary  also, 
to  be  recompensed  with  an  eternal  weight  of 
glory  (2  Cor.  iv.  16). 

God  is  patient,  remarks  St.  Augustine,  because 
He  is  eternal ;  He  is  not  obliged  to  crowd  all  His 


230  THE  BLESSED  TEIKITY. 

judgments  into  a  single  point  of  time.  Man 
must  be  made  over  before  he  is  capable  of  en- 
during the  full  measure  of  reward  or  punish- 
ment. For  this  measure  is  incompatible  with  our 
present  condition  and  would  part  body  and  soul 
asunder.  Twice,  nay,  once  only,  has  the  world 
witnessed  the  exercise  of  God's  judgment  and 
nature  itself  trembled  to  its  centre  ;  the  next  dis- 
play will  be  the  end  of  time. 

Because  a  nation  has  no  soul  and  no  future 
life  its  chastisements  are  necessarily  limited  to 
this.  ISTo  unjust  government  will  be  perpetual. 
The  nation  that  is  not  holy  shall  perish,  is  the 
assurance  of  God.  The  kingdoms  and  empires 
that  have  despised  religion,  persecuted  the  saints, 
and  trampled  on  the  rights  of  man  have  fallen  to 
rise  no  more ;  decay  is  preying  on  the  vitals  of 
others  and  they  are  tottering  to  their  ruin. 

Let  us  adore  the  judgments  and  dispensations 
of  divine  Providence,  whose  decrees  are  all  jus- 
tice, wisdom,  and  love.  The  Blessed  Trinity,  af- 
ter having  created  us  and  redeemed  us,  watches 
over  us  with  infinite  solicitude  and  mercy  until 
we  are  gathered  home  to  rest  in  the  shoreless 
ocean  of  His  being,  man's  true  and  only  home. 

The  will  of  God  is  the  supreme  law  and  moral 
standard  of  perfection  for  all  rational  creatures. 
It  is  the  beauty  and  worth  of  material  and  in- 


SEVENTH  CONFEEENCE.  231 

stinctive  beings,  inasmncli  as  it  is  a  law  im- 
pressed on  their  nature.  Disobedience  to  the 
will  of  Providence  is  the  ruin  of  our  race.  It 
ruined  one-third  of  the  angels  of  God,  and  such 
another  ruin  never  was ;  not  one  of  them 
ever  rose  or  has  ever  since  harbored  a  virtuous 
thought.  All  man's  duties,  his  relations  to  God, 
to  his  neighbor,  and  to  himself,  his  present  and 
future  hopes,  are  compressed  into  a  single  point 
— to  conform  to  the  will  of  divine  Providence. 

We  must  know,  said  St.  Augustine,  that  what- 
ever occurs  contrary  to  our  wishes  can  hap- 
pen only  by  the  will  of  God,  by  His  established 
order  and  laws,  and  it  is  wise  to  submit  to  His 
decrees.  Supreme  reason  can  do  nothing  un- 
reasonable, says  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen.  We 
can  never  enjoy  true  happiness  until  our  will 
entirely  acquiesces  in  the  will  of  God,  and  in 
this  conformity  all  man's  worth  absolutely  con- 
sists. It  consists  in  a  disposition  to  do  or  suffer 
what  Providence  wills  in  our  regard. 

The  union  of  the  Word  with  human  nature  in 
the  person  of  our  Lord,  the  union  of  the  divine 
maternity  with  virginity  in  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
are  prodigies  of  omnipotent  mercy ;  the  union 
of  the  human  with  the  divine  will  is  also  a 
marvellous  conquest  of  grace.  It  is  conformity 
that  makes  the  soul  of  man  a  very  paradise 


232  THE  BLESSED   TKITsTITT. 

of  God  where  the  Blessed  Trinity   delights  to 
dwell. 

Kesignation  is  the  most  perfect  homage  that 
man  can  offer  to  G-od  ;  for  it  not  only  includes 
all  other  virtues,  but  it  bestows  what  most  pecu- 
liarly belongs  to  man — his  will.  If  there  be  any 
gift  strictly  man's  own  property  it  is  his  will.  It 
is  man's  essential  right,  and  his  Maker  will  never 
deprive  him  of  it.  It  is  optional  with  man  to 
give  or  withhold  it,  and  God  prays  for  it :  My 
son^  give  me  thy  heart  (Prov.  xxiii.  26).  We 
should  grant  our  Creator  His  petition  and  hear 
His  prayer,  and  He  will  grant  ours,  which  in- 
cludes all  blessings :  My  will  he  done  on  earth, 
as  it  is  in  heaven.  Be  it  so,  dear  Lord,  and  the 
essential  difference  between  heaven  and  earth 
will  have  passed  away  and  our  exile  will  end  this 
side  of  the  tomb. 

By  resignation  and  conformity  we  are  more 
closely  united  with  our  Lord  than  by  any  natu- 
ral ties,  even  than  by  blood-relationship.  Who- 
soever shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father  that  is  in 
heaven,  he  is  my  brother  and  sister  and  motlier. 
To  do  the  will  of  God  was  the  essential  character 
of  Jesus  Christ,  His  very  food  and  sustenance ; 
and  to  do  in  like  manner  is  to  be  like  Christ. 

The  union  created  between  God  and  the  soul 
by  means  of  this  virtue  surpasses  human  under- 


SET7ENTH   CONFERENCE.  233 

standing  in  its  intimacy.  Holy  Writ  and  the 
Fathers  relate  astounding  facts  which  imply  al- 
most that  God  becomes  one's  own  property.  I 
hesitate  to  repeat  the  amazing  declarations  of  con- 
templatives  before  ordinary  Christians.  When 
the  Jews  ajKDStatized  in  the  desert  God  entreat- 
ed Moses  not  to  pray  for  their  forgiveness ;  but 
the  prophet  resisted  and  won  their  pardon. 
God's  jealousy  for  the  least  reservation  in  the 
will  of  His  servants  is  often  revealed.  Samuel 
was  almost  inconsolable  for  the  defection  and 
sins  of  Saul.  Why,  said  God,  do  you  lament  for 
Saul  when  I  have  rejected  him  ?  Quare  luges ^ 
Saul  ?  (1  Kings  xvi.  1). 

St.  Bernard  says  that  to  \\dll  only  what  God 
wills  is  to  become  like  God  ;  and  he  beautifully 
illustrates  this  by  two  metals  in  a  state  of  fusion, 
which  when  joined  together  become  one.  It  is 
so  high  a  participation  of  the  divine  nature  as  to 
invest  the  soul  with  the  attributes  of  holiness 
and  wisdom  in  an  ineffable  manner.  Guided  by 
the  will  of  God,  the  just  man  is  conducted  by  in- 
finite wisdom  and  cannot  maliciously  err  ;  acting 
according  to  infinite  sanctity,  his  perfection  will 
be  in  proportion  to  his  resignation. 

Conformity  suits  all  times,  conditions,  and  re- 
mains for  ever.  It  makes  heroic  sanctity  our 
easy  and  common  condition,  and  only  at  the  cost 


234  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

of  an  idea.  It  is  the  unbroken  occupation  of  the 
angels  and  saints  in  heaven,  and  makes  our  oc- 
cupation the  same  as  theirs.  Thy  loill  he  done 
on  earthy  as  it  is  in  Tieamn  should  be  our  unin- 
terrupted prayer.  It  embraces  all  other  virtues, 
secures  perfect  bliss  on  earth,  and  leaves  nothing 
more  to  desire  but  the  unveiled  vision  of  God. 

This  is  the  secret  of  the  peace  and  serenity  of 
the  saints  ;  they  were  calm  and  unmoved  amid  all 
the  trials  of  life  as  the  rock  in  the  ocean,  indif- 
ferent alike  to  prosperity  and  adversity.  St.  Ig- 
natius, who  was  wont  to  look  up  into  the  face  of 
God  in  the  starry  nights,  would  undertake  to  re- 
convert an  alienated  world  if  he  had  but  a  dozen 
men  detached  from  self  and  resigned  to  God. 

Thus  the  Blessed  Trinity  minutely  presides 
over  human  affairs,  and  with  infinite  power  and 
wisdom  governs  the  world  and  all  things  therein. 
He  is  wonderful  in  all  things,  but  most  wonder- 
ful in  His  saints.  He  redeemed  and  saved  us 
and  made  us  members  of  the  true  Church,  and 
He  nourishes  us  with  the  most  precious  Body 
and  Blood  of  our  Lord,  and  He  has  prepared  for 
each  of  us  a  glory  beyond  our  conception. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  Holy  Ghost — the  Creator,  the  Redeemer,  and 
the  Sovereign  Lord  of  all  things.     Amen. 


OOETEEEI^rOE  YIII. 


ON    THE  BLESSED   EUCHARIST,    THE  GREATEST 
GIFT  OF  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 


The  Blessed  Trinity  and  the  Real  Presence  the  deepest  Mys- 
teries— Four  Proofs  from  Holy  Writ — The  Sixth  Chapter  of 
St.  John  ;  its  true  Meaning — Figurative  and  literal  Senses 
— The  Jews  understood  Him  literally — He  confirms  their 
Impression — Abandoned  by  many  of  the  Disciples — Types 
and  Figures — The  Institution — Transubstantiation — I  am  the 
Vine,  not  a  parallel  Passage — Objections  solved — Laws  of 
Nature  and  the  Senses — Philosophical  Difficulties  no  Diffi- 
culties— Concessions  to  the  Infidel — The  Test  of  true  and 
false  Discij)les — Unworthy  Communicants  guilty  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord— Taught  by  all  the  Fathers 
— Liturgies — Systematizes  Religion — Impossible  if  Christ  was 
but  Man — Redemption  satisfied  Justice,  but  not  Love — Mer- 
its Supreme  Worship — The  Blessed  Eucharist  is  God  and 
Man — Christ  present  for  ever  on  Fjarth — ^Wonders  of  the 
Mystery — Silence — Considerations — The  hidden  God — Man- 
na—The Bread  of  Elias,  etc.,  etc. 

I. 

This  is  my  hody  .  .  .  this  is  my  hlood. — St.  Matt.  xxvi.  26,  28. 

My  Brethren  : 

Creation,  the  Incarnation,  the  Blessed  Eucha- 
rist, and  the  Catholic  Church  are  the  greatest 
works    of    Grod    in   time,    His    most    precious 


236  THE  BLESSED  TKHNTITY. 

gifts  to  man,  and  the  most  profound  mys- 
teries. They  are  all  in  the  safe  keeping  of 
the  Church,  are  part  of  the  sacred  deposit  of 
faith,  and  are  taught  by  her  to  all  nations  and  in 
all  times,  otherwise  their  knowledge  had  per- 
ished from  the  mind  of  man  or  had  resembled 
some  of  the  broken  traditions  of  pagan  my- 
thology. I  connect  the  Blessed  Trinity  and  the 
Blessed  Eucharist,  not  only  because  the  latter 
is  one  of  the  highest  manifestations  of  Gfod's 
mercy  and  love  for  man,  but  because  both  are 
allied  as  the  most  unfathomable  mysteries  of 
faith,  and  are  truths,  not  of  abstract  reasoning, 
but  of  pure  evidence,  based  on  the  same  ground 
of  conviction — the  authority  of  tlie  CJiurch  of 
the  limng  God^  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of 
the  truth  (1  Tim.  iii.  15). 

The  Blessed  Eucharist,  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ,  the  Eeal  Presence,  the  Holy  Communion, 
and  Transubstantiation  are  terms  expressive  of 
the  same  doctrine.  This  doctrine  does  not  mean 
that  the  priest  has  power  to  make  and  eat  his 
God,  as  is  very  foolishly  asserted  even  by  nom- 
inal Christians  who  should  know  better.  The 
Blessed  Trinity  is  whole  and  entire  in  every  par- 
ticle of  creation.  ]N"ot  so  the  sacred  humanity  of 
Christ,  which  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God  in 
heaven  and  in  the    Blessed    Eucharist.     He  is 


EIGHTH   CONFERENCE.  237 

everywliere  as  God,  but  not  everywhere  as  man. 
It  is  an  article  of  faith,  by  which  we  firmly  be- 
lieve, that  when  the  words  of  consecration  are 
pronounced,  by  a  lawfully-ordained  priest,  over 
the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  a  change  takes 
place  which  converts  the  invisible  substance  of 
the  bread  into  the  Body  and  of  the  wine  into  the 
Blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  are  really,  truly, 
and  substantially  x^i*esent,  not  in  their  natuml 
condition,  but  in  their  risen,  spiritualized,  and 
glorified  state,  in  a  manner  suited  to  the  nature 
of  a  sacrament.  The  whole  substance  of  the 
bread  is  changed  into  the  whole  person  of  Jesus 
Christ,  notliing  at  all  remaining  of  the  bread  and 
wine  but  their  outward  appearances  or  acci- 
dents. The  Blessed  Eucharist  contains  the  Body 
and  Blood,  the  soul  and  divinity,  of  Christ,  to- 
gether with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost  by 
concomitance  ;  because  the  undivided  Tiinity 
can  never  be  separated,  and  all  external  works 
are  the  production  of  the  three  adorable  Per- 
sons combined. 

Holy  Writ  affords  us  a  threefold  proof  in  fa- 
vor of  this  ineffable  mystery :  first,  the  words  of 
institution  recorded  in  the  twenty-sixth  chapter 
of  St.  Matthew,  fourteenth  of  St.  Mark,  and  in 
the  twenty-second  of  St.  Luke  ;  second,  the  de- 
claration of   St.   Paul  regarding  its  acceptance 


238  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

(1  Cor.  X.  11)  ;  and,  thirdly,  the  words  of  prom- 
ise recorded  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John. 
Before  entering  on  any  of  these  powerful  and 
conclusive  arguments  let  me  premise  a  few  gen- 
eral observations. 

The  divine  simplicity  is  exhibited  in  a  striking 
manner  in  the  Blessed  Eucharist,  the  greatest 
work  and  best  gift  of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  Reve- 
lation ;  the  sacrifices  and  worship  of  former  dis- 
pensations; all  the  mysteries  of  man's  redemp- 
tion ;  all  graces,  all  merits  of  the  life,  sufferings, 
and  death  of  Christ ;  His  body  and  soul  in  their 
glorified  and  immortal  state  ;  His  divinity  ;  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  for  they  never  can 
be  separated  from  the  Son ;  the  august  Trinity 
in  ineffable  unity — all  are  compressed  into  a 
single  point,  into  the  smallest  consecrated  par- 
ticle, placed  by  the  priest  on  the  tongue  of  the 
humblest  Catholic  at  the  communion-rails. 

This  was  foretold  by  the  prophet :  Gfod  liath 
made  a  remeTnbrance  of  His  wonderful  worlcs, 
.  ,  ,  He  hath  gimn  bread  to  them  that  fear  Him 
(Psalm  ex.  4).  Millions  of  created  worlds  do  not 
contain  the  importance  nor  wonders  of  that  sim- 
ple act.  Because  of  His  infinite  simplicity  the 
more  openly  God  shows  Himself  in  this  world 
the  more  hidden  and  the  stronger  is  the  faith 
necessary  to  see  Him.     Creation,  the  Incarnation, 


EIGHTH   CONFEKENCE.  239 

and  the  Holy  Eucliarist  are  God's  great  manifes- 
tations of  Himself  and  His  greatest  gifts  to  man. 
The  two  latter  contain  Himself  strictly. 

The  Great  I  Am  is  never  more  palpably  ex- 
hibited to  the  world  than  at  the  elevation  of  the 
Host,  and  formerly  at  the  elevation  of  the  cross  ; 
the  mystery  of  His  presence  only  becomes  more 
unfathomable,  and  it  is  written:  Blessed  is  lie 
who  will  not  he  scandalized  in  me.  The  Jews 
were  scandalized  at  the  cross,  and  the  discii)les 
at  the  Real  Presence  :  both  walked  no  more  with 
Him. 

If  Jesus  Christ  were  but  a  mere  man  the  Bless- 
ed Eucharist  could  not  be  at  all,  or  at  most  could 
be  but  a  figure  ;  because  He  is  God  it  is  therefore 
a  reality.  The  end  of  all  love  is  unity,  identity, 
oneness  of  all  existence,  bodily  and  spiritual, 
and  intolerance  of  duality.  Human  love  in  its 
wildest  flights  never  has  and  never  can  attain  its 
end.  The  distance  between  one  soul  and  another 
is  so  vast  that  only  the  Creator  can  fill  it.  In 
the  common  acceptation  of  the  term  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  a  union  of  hearts,  but  in  a  strict  sense 
it  is  impossible  among  creatures.  Interpenet ra- 
tion requires  omnipotence ;  it  can  be  accomplish- 
ed only  by  Almighty  God. 

In  our  Lord  love  is  omnipotent,  and  therefore 
it  attains  its  end — oneness  or  identity  of  being  ; 


240  THE  BLESSED   TEINITT. 

not,  indeed,  deification,  but  a  wonderful  partici- 
pation of  it,  according  to  St.  Peter :  Dwince  na- 
tures consories.  Our  Lord  styles  the  union  a 
oneness  with  the  Father  and  Him.  St.  Cyril 
compares 'it  very  boldly  ''to  the  union  of  two 
pieces  of  liquefied  wax  melted  into  one.V  We 
must  stop  short  of  deification,  which  exists  only 
in  the  humanity  of  Christ.  He  alone  of  all  men 
could  accomplish  the  end  of  love,  and  was  neces- 
sitated to  do  so — to  love  to  the  end.  The  law  of 
love  achieved  the  Eucharist.  Where  is  the  true 
love  that  would  not  accomplish  the  miracle,  if  it 
could  reach  its  highest  perfection  and  attain  its 
end  ?  Come^  my  beloved^  said  the  Sj)ouse  in  the 
sacred  canticle,  eat^  drint^  he  inebriated.  This 
is  my  Body^  this  is  my  Blood.  He  that  eateth 
7ny  Flesh  and  drinketh  my  Blood  dbideth  in  me^ 
and  I  in  him.  Kedemption  satisfied  God's  jus- 
tice, but  it  was  not  enough  for  love,  which  re- 
quired the  Blessed  Eucharist. 

Already  familiar  with  the  proofs  of  this  hea- 
venly doctrine — proofs  which  are  generally  met  in 
the  range  of  ordinary  controversy — I  present  them 
in  a  concise  form  and  different  arrangement  in 
vindicating  the  truth  of  this  stupendous  insti- 
tution of  the  Holy  Trinity.  The  promise  is  re- 
corded in  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John,  which 
contains  seventy-two  verses :  the  first  twenty-six 


EIGHTH  CONFERENCE.  241 

contain  the  history  of  the  feeding  of  a  large  mul- 
titude with  a  few  loaves  of  bread ;  from  this  to 
the  fifty-first  verse  Christ  inculcates  the  neces- 
sity of  believing  in  Him ;  thence  to  the  end  He 
teaches  the  necessity  of  eating  His  Body  and 
drinking  His  Blood  sacramentally  in  order  to  be 
saved. 

Our  Blessed  Lord  foretold  the  Passion,  Resur- 
rection, Baptism,  and  all  His  mysteries  and  insti- 
tutions ;  these  He  promised  them,  and  also  the 
Eucharist.  Nothing  was  more  familiar  with  Him 
than  to  take  occasion  of  some  miracle  to  remove 
an  objection  or  to  inculcate  a  doctrine  that  had  a 
connection  with  it.  Thus  in  the  fifth  chapter  of 
St.  Jolm  we  read  that,  having  restored  a  sick 
man  who  was  in  a  languishing  condition  from 
having  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs,  He  inculcates  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  disbelieved  by  the 
Sadducees.  If  He  ever  meant  to  teach  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Real  Presence,  this  was  the  most 
suitable  moment  for  doing  so.  By  blessing  the 
bread  He  imj)arted  to  it  such  an  efficacy  as  to 
make  it  sufficient  to  feed  many  thousands,  not 
by  creating  a  new  substance,  but  by  extending 
that  which  already  existed ;  He  removed  the 
objection  that  naturally  offers  itself  against  the 
simultaneous  existence  of  a  body  in  several 
places  at  the  one  time.    Nor  can  we  conceive 

20 


242  THE  BLESSED   TKIIN^ITY. 

anything  more  parallel  to  tliis  divine  institution, 
in  which,  he  multiplies  his  glorified  Body  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  make  it  the  food  of  all  the  faith- 
ful in  every  part  of  the  world. 

That  our  Lord's  discourse  in  the  first  part  of 
the  chapter  regards  faith  is  evident  from  the 
context  and  His  language.  It  is  a  maxim  in 
Biblical  interpretation  that  whenever  a  diificulty 
occurs  we  must  find  a  key  for  its  solution  in 
other  and  clearer  passages  where  it  exists.  Our 
Lord  speaks  of  Himself  as  the  object  of  faith 
under  the  figurative  language  of  food  or  bread — 
a  mode  of  expression  familiar  to  the  Jews  :  Come 
eat  my  hread  and  drinlc  the  wine  which  I  Jiave 
mingled  for  you  (Proverbs  ix.)  They  offer  no 
objection ;  they  understood  Him  as  inculcating 
the  necessity  of  believing  in  Him  under  the 
figure  of  receiving  food. 

The  meaning  attached  by  his  hearers  to  the 
words  of  a  speaker  is  their  true  sense  and  that 
which  he  intended  to  convey.  The  Jews,  the 
true  interpreters  of  our  Lord's  words,  were  con- 
vinced that  there  was  a  transition  in  our  Lord's 
discourse,  and  that  He  no  longer  taught  the  ne- 
cessity of  believing  in  Him,  but  of  eating  His 
Body  and  drinking  His  Blood,  in  order  to  be 
saved.  The  phraseology  is  so  strong,  the  terms 
so  forcible,  that  comment  seems  idle.     The  Ian- 


EIGHTH  CONFEEENCE.  243 

guage  is  so  expressive  of  tlie  doctrine  of  tlie  Eu- 
charist that  one  who  believes  in  Holy  Writ  can 
scarcely  doubt  of  its  being  taught:  A7id  tfie 
bread  that  I  will  give  is  my  Flesh  for  the  life 
of  the  world.  .  .  .  Amen^  amen^  I  say  unto 
you,  except  you  eat  the  Flesh  of  the  Son  of 
man,  and  drink  His  Blood,  you  shall  not  Jiave 
life  in  you.  He  that  eateth  my  Flesh  and 
drinJceth  my  Blood  hath  everlasting  life,  and  I 
will  raise  him  up  at  the  last  day.  .  .  .  He  that 
eateth  my  Flesh  and  drinketh  my  Blood 
ahideth  in  me,  and  I  in  him.  As  the  limng 
Father  hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the  Father, 
so  he  that  eateth  me^  the  same  also  shall  live  by 
me  (John  vi.  52  et  seq.) 

It  is  asserted  by  Protestants,  contrary  to  every 
true  canon  of  Scriptural  interpretation— gratui- 
tously asserted,  it  must  be  said — that  by  eating 
the  Body  and  drinking  the  Blood  of  Christ  no- 
thing more  is  meant  than  believing  in  Him,  be- 
lieving in  His  Body  and  Blood.  Flesh  and  blood 
are  not  objects  of  faith  ;  no  rational  man  can  be 
persuaded  that  our  Lord,  palpably  standing  be- 
fore the  people  in  the  flesh,  would  take  such  un- 
usual pains  to  convince  them  of  his  corporal  ex- 
istence, which  no  man  there  doubted.  They,  in- 
deed, believed  too  literally  that  He  was  no  more 
than  flesh  and  blood,  and  this  was  their  sin. 


244  THE  BLESSED  TKINITY. 

Protestants  are  of  opinion  that  our  Lord's 
words  must  be  taken  fignratively  ;  tlie  Catholic 
Church  and  all  the  Eastern  denominations  main- 
tain that  the  v/ords  are  to  be  understood  in  their 
natural,  literal  sense— that  we  must  partake  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist  in  order  to  obtain  salvation. 

In  order  to  solve  this  difficulty  satisfactorily 
it  becomes  necessary  to  ascertain  if  the  phrase 
**to  eat  and  drink"  had  a  figurative  meaning. 
Because,  if  we  depart  from  the  literal,  plain 
meaning  we  must  adopt  the  figurative  sense 
according  to  the  usage  of  language.  If  we  ex- 
amine the  Scriptures  and  all  Eastern  languages 
we  will  find  that  the  figurative  meaning  was  to 
persecute  a  man  to  death,  to  iniiict  a  grievous 
injury  by  calumny.  It  was  unique  and  settled. 
Thus  the  Psalmist  says  :  While  the  wicked  draw 
near  against  me  to  eat  up  my  flesli  (xxvi.) 
Why  do  you  persecute  me  ,  .  .  and  glut 
yourselves  uyith  my  flesh  f  (Job  xix.  22).  Then 
there  was  no  alternative  betv/een  the  partaking 
of  our  Lord's  Body  and  Blood  and  an  odious, 
sinful  signification  which  no  sane  man  could 
think  of  adopting. 

Every  prudent  speaker  and  writer  will  ex- 
press himself  in  the  plainest  manner,  so  as  to  be 
easily  understood,  and  he  will  avoid  the  use  of 
any  odious  terms  or  harsh  expressions  calculated 


EIGHTn  CONFERENCE.  245 

to  raise  unfavorable  prejudices  in  the  minds  of 
his  hearers  or  readers  against  his  doctrine.  If 
Jesus  Christ  did  not  teach  transubstantiation  He 
not  only  erred  against  this  axiom  of  common 
sense,  but  He  led  the  Jews  astray  and  buried  the 
world  in  idolatry  ;  for  the  Christian  world  gene- 
rally adores  the  Blessed  Eucharist  as  the  ever- 
living  God,  as  Christ.  He  insists  on  the  neces- 
sity of  drinking  His  Blood, 

The  drinking  of  the  blood  of  even  clean  ani- 
mals was  prohibited  by  the  first  law  given  to 
Noe  after  the  flood  ;  and  it  was  repeated  down 
even  to  the  birth  of  Christianity.  But,  though 
grievous,  it  was  light  in  comparison  with  the  eat- 
ing of  human  llesh  and  the  drinking  of  human 
blood.  Instead  of  a  fountain  of  running  waters 
thou  givest  liuman  blood  to  tlie  unjust  to  drink 
(Prov.  ix.)  With  these  impressions  on  the  part 
of  the  Jews,  it  is  preposterous  to  suppose  that 
our  divine  Redeemer,  whose  mission  it  was  to 
conciliate  the  Jews  and  convert  the  world,  should 
have  clothed  His  most  amiable  doctrines  and 
merciful  institutions  in  the  most  abominable  lan- 
guage and  an  imagery  never  used  but  to  express 
the  most  heinous  violation  of  the  divine  law  and 
signal  curse  of  God.  We  must  conclude  that 
He  used  this  language  because  He  inculcated  the 
doctrine  which  it  conveys,  and  He  was  necessi- 


246  THE  BLESSED   TEINITY. 

tated  to  use  it  because  He  could  not  have  ade- 
quately stated  it  in  any  other  terms. 

There  are  rare  facilities  of  interpretation  in 
this  instance.  We  have  the  declaration  of  the 
meaning  attached  by  His  hearers  to  our  Lord's 
words  and  His  assurance  of  the  correctness  there- 
of. No  sooner  did  He  say,  The  'bread  that  I  will 
give  is  my  flesh  for  the  life  of  the  worlds  than 
they  strove  among  themselves,  saying.  How  can 
this  man  give  us  His  flesh  to  eat  f  This  objec- 
tion proves  that  they  were  convinced  He  was  in- 
culcating an  impossibility,  an  absurdity.  This 
could  be  understood  only  of  the  literal  sense. 
But  it  is  conceded  that  the  Capharnaumites  un- 
derstood our  Lord  in  a  gross,  natural  manner; 
Catholics  are  reproached  for  taking  His  words  in 
the  same  sense.  The  question  is  simply  this: 
Were  the  Capharnaumites  right  ?  If  they  were, 
then  we  are  right ;  if  they  were  wrong,  then  we 
are  wrong  also.  There  is  one  criterion  by  which 
we  can  decide  the  question,  and  it  is  very  simple 
in  its  application. 

Every  speaker  and  writer  has  a  peculiar  man- 
ner of  conveying  his  thoughts,  and  we  can  ad- 
mit no  interpretation  at  variance  with  his  fami- 
liar custom.  Whenever  an  objection  was  raised 
against  our  Lord's  doctrines  in  consequence  of 
His  words  being  misunderstood,  He  invariably 


EIGHTH  CONFERElSrCE.  247 

corrected  the  error.  I  give  but  one  specimen 
from  many  :  Unless  a  man  is  horn  again  lie  can- 
not see  the  kingdom  of  God.  To  be  born  again 
meant  prosely  tisni ;  but  it  does  not  occur  to  Nico- 
demus,  and  he  objects  to  the  doctrine  as  imprac- 
ticable. How  can  a  man  he  horn  wJien  he  is 
old  f  He  is  answered  that  it  is  a  spiritual  birth 
by  baptism  that  is  meant.  Amen,  amen,  I  sa/y 
to  thee,  unless  a  man  be  horn  again  of  water  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  (John  iii.)  He  does  not  permit  Nico- 
demus  nor  any  one  else  to  dejDart  laboring  under 
a  misconception  of  anything  that  He  had  said. 

Whenever  His  hearers  correctly  understood 
Him  and  objected  to  His  doctrine  He  always  re- 
peats the  offensive  expression  and  insists  on  be- 
ing believed,  even  when  the  objection  was  only 
mental.  Jesus  said  to  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy, 
Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee  (Matt,  ix.)  They 
said  loithin  themselves  that  He  blasphemed  by 
arrogating  a  divine  power.  He  repeated  the  ob- 
noxious expression  and  proved  its  truth  by  the 
performance  of  a  miracle. 

The  Jews  understood  our  Lord  literally  and 
made  an  objection.  If  they  were  mistaken  He 
was  bound  in  honor  and  justice  to  correct  them — 
nothing  easier,  if  He  were  speaking  only  of  faith 
and  in  a  figurative  sense.     Instead  of  this  He 


248  THE  BLESSED  TEIN-ITY. 

confirms  tlieir  interpretation  more  forcibly  tlian 
He  had  ever  done  before  on  any  other  occasion. 
He  repeats  the  expressions  that  had  given  offence 
five  times  over.  The  manner  in  which  He  makes 
the  repetition  still  more  forcibly  confirms  the 
literal  sense.  It  is  embodied  in  the  form  of  a 
precept,  which  has  a  threat  of  punishment  an- 
nexed. A  command  must  be  given  in  the  plain- 
est words.  Eternal  life  is  to  be  attained  by  the 
observance  or  neglect  of  the  precept.  Again 
it  was  delivered  in  a  positive  and  a  negative 
manner,  and  salvation  attached  to  its  observance ; 
a  refusal,  and  the  frightful  penalty  of  eternal 
death  attached.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  He  in- 
culcates the  necessity  of  baptism.  Both  cases 
are  j)arallel,  and,  being  precepts,  must  be  taken 
literally. 

He  confirms  this  meaning  by  the  strongest 
asseveration  in  Holy  Writ.  It  is  God's  oath, 
Amen^  amen^  which  was  never  used  except  when 
words  were  intended  to  be  taken  in  tlieir  most 
obvious  signification.  There  is  also  a  deter- 
minating phrase  which  absolutely  excludes  the 
idea  of  a  figure  :  My  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and 
my  Mood  is  drinlc  indeed — truly,  verily,  actu- 
ally. He  comprises  both  expressions  in  the  most 
forcible  manner  possible.  He  that  eateth  me^  the 
same  shall  also  live  by  me.     He  never  would 


EIGHTH   CONFERENCE.  249 

have  used  so  extraordinary  an  expression  if  He 
had  any  choice  and  if  it  was  not  the  plainest 
manner  of  teaching  the  doctrine. 

We  now  come  to  a  turning-point  in  the  life  of 
our  Lord,  The  disciples  debated  among  them- 
selves and  exclaimed :  This  saying  is  liard^  and 
who  can  hear  it  ? — which  means,  it  is  imi)ossible 
for  us  to  associate  ourselves  any  longer  with  a 
man  who  teaches  so  revolting  a  doctrine.  They 
left  Him  ;  they  walked  tio  more  with  Him.  Has 
He  no  explanation  to  make  \  If  He  is  speaking 
only  of  faith  or  a  bare  commemoration,  and  in 
figure,  wiU  the  Grood  .Shepherd  suffer  them  to 
be  lost  for  ever  for  refusing  to  believe  imagi- 
nary doctrines  which  He  never  meant  to  teach  \ 

The  admiring  multitude  had  listened  for  three 
days  to  the  words  of  wisdom  that  fell  from  His 
divine  lips,  and  were  mii-aculously  fed  with  five 
loaves  and  two  fishes.  The  blind,  the  lame,  the 
sick,  many  whom  He  had  miraculously  cured, 
must  have  been  there.  They  offered  Him  a 
crown,  and  were  ready  to  die  in  order  to  seat 
their  Messias  on  the  throne  of  David,  His  father. 
Hearing  His  extraordinary  doctrine,  they  ask  for 
an  explanation,  and  He  only  reasserts  it.  Thej 
dispute  and  debate  among  themselves,  and  are 
agitated  with  angry  strife,  like  summer  trees 
swayed  by  sudden  storm.      '''How  canf    how 

21 


250  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

canf^^  is  on  every  lip.  They  receive  no  modi- 
fication, no  softening  down  of  the  hard  saying. 
They  hurry  away,  will  have  no  more  to  do  with 
Him,  and  forsake  Him  once  for  all.  There  is  an 
end  now  to  the  dream  of  an  earthly  kingdom ; 
He  bends  His  steps  towards  Jerusalem  and  the 
cross,  forsaken  by  the  admiring  multitudes.  The 
Catholic  doctrine  was  just  as  unpopular  that  day 
as  it  is  now,  and  the  identical  objection  is  made  : 
Hoio  can  this  man  gim  v^  His  flesh  to  eat?  They 
walked  no  more  with  Him.  Whether  the  objec- 
tion was  made  on  the  mountain  or  in  the  syna- 
gogue, the  result  was  the  same.  He  is  standing 
alone  now  with  the  chosen  twelve  to  whom  it 
was  given  to  know  the  secrets  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  If  there  is  a  misunderstanding  He  surely 
will  explain  to  them  ;  but  there  is  no  further  en- 
couragement for  them  than  for  the  wavering  dis- 
ciples. 

Turning  to  them,  He  said:  Will  you  also  go 
away  f  They  do  not  understand  Him  any  more 
than  the  rest ;  they  are  evidently  perj)lexed  and 
amazed.  But  they  resist  the  impulses  of  natural 
feelings  and  abandon  themselves  to  His  authority. 
He  accepts  the  sacrifice  and  formally  acknow- 
ledges them  for  His  disciples.  Peter  answered 
for  the  rest :  Lord^  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou 
hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  .  .  .  Jesus  an- 


EIGHTH   CONFERENCE.  2ol 

swerecl  ikem^  Ilane  not  I  cJiosen  you  twelve^  and 
one  of  you  is  a  devil  f  He  saw  the  sincerity  of 
their  conviction,  except  in  the  solitary  case  of 
Judas  Iscariot,  who,  according  to  St.  John  Chry- 
sostom,  apostatized  in  his  soul  at  this  very  time 
and  denied  his  Master.  The  ''how  can"  poison- 
ed his  heart  and  ruined  him.  Our  Lord  was  in- 
culcating a  mystery,  like  creation  or  the  Blessed 
Trinity,  wliich  no  explanation  could  bring  within 
the  scope  of  man's  understanding.  It  required 
only  the  surrender  of  human  reason  to  the  au- 
thority of  God.  Had  He  made  an  explanation 
we  could  not  understand  it. 

The  objections  against  this  interpretation  are 
silly.  Have  not  many  perished  who  received 
this  sacrament  ?  Unfortunately,  too  true ;  be- 
cause our  Lord's  promises  are  conditional,  as  in 
baptism.  How  can  He  be  in  so  many  different 
places  at  the  same  time  and  within  so  small  a 
compass  ?  As  easily  as  He  multiplied  the  loaves 
and  fishes,  causing  them  to  be  in  thousands  of 
places  at  the  same  time,  and  as  He  brought  His 
body  through  closed  doors. 

Does  He  not  tell  us  that  His  words  must  be 
taken  spiritually  ?  Tke  words  that  I  ham  spoken 
to  you  are  spirit  and  life.  .  .  .  If  then  yoic  see 
the  Son  of  man  ascend  up  where  He  loas  before  ? 
St.  Augustine  says  this  was  an  explanation  for 


252  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

the  Capharnaumites,  wlio  imagined  that  our 
Lord's  flesh  must  be  eaten  in  morsels,  like  that 
of  animals.  In  the  New  Testament  flesh  and 
blood  always  mean  the  natural  man  as  opposed 
to  the  spiritual,  or  human  nature  left  to  its  own 
impulses  and  unaided  by  the  grace  of  God. 
Flesh  and  Mood  cannot  possess  the  kingdom  of 
God  (1  Cor.  XV.  50). 

II. 

It  is  objected  that  the  doctrine  is  contrary  to 
reason  and  the  testimony  of  our  senses.  No 
Christian  has  a  right  to  consider  the  apparent 
impossibility  of  a  doctrine,  but  simply  whether 
it  has  been  taught  in  the  Scriptures  or  the 
Church.  From  the  Protestant  standpoint  it 
must  stand  or  fall  by  the  Bible.  His  word  is 
essentially  true,  and  His  doctrines  can  contra- 
dict no  principle  of  reason  nor  a  law  of  nature. 

Who  can  define  the  perplexed  question  of  pos- 
sibility to  God  or  understand  His  omnipotence  ? 
If  a  man  concedes  that  our  Lord  changed  water 
into  wine  and  fed  thousands  abundantly  with  a 
few  loaves  of  bread,  to  be  consistent  he  must 
confess  that  the  same  power  is  adequate  to 
change  bread  and  wine  into  His  Body  and 
Blood  and  make  the  sacrament  co-extensive  with 
the  human  race. 


EIGHTH   CONFERENCE.  253 

We  have  evidence  that  our  Lord  fre(Jueiitly 
performed  what  seemed  impossible  :  He  walked 
on  the  waters,  transmuted  one  body  into  another, 
multii)lied  bodies  almost  indefinitely,  raised  the 
dead  to  life.  He  impressed  on  the  people  that 
nothing  was  impossible  to  Him,  and  reproached 
them  sharply  whenever  they  doubted  His  power. 
Because  the  centurion  believed  His  presence  was 
not  necessary  to  raise  the  dead  to  life — a  splen- 
did confession  of  His  divinity — he  eulogized  Him 
in  public.  Amen^  I  say  to  you^  I  ham  not  found 
so  great  faith  in  Israel.  Now,  could  the  apos- 
tles or  can  any  Christian  decide  the  meaning  of 
God's  word  by  assuming  that  its  execution  was 
impossible  ? 

He  made  this  doctrine  the  test  of  His  true  and 
false  disciples.  The  former  sacrificed  their  un- 
derstanding to  the  divine  authority,  i)ersevered, 
and  were  saved.  The  latter  rejected  the  doc- 
trine as  imj)ossible,  just  as  at  this  day,  and 
walked  no  more  with  Him. 

If  we  admit  only  what  we  can  understand,  and 
assume  as  a  principle  of  interpretation  the  difii- 
culty  or  apparent  contradiction  of  a  thing  to  the 
law  of  nature,  w^e  destroy  all  Christian  faith. 
What  do  we  know  of  nature — we  w^ho  cannot  ex- 
plain the  production  from  its  seed  of  a  blade  of 
grass  nor  understand  how  a  thought  is  formed 


254  THE   BLESSED    TRINITY. 

within  us  ?  Until  we  are  acquainted  with  all  the 
laws  of  nature  in  their  mystic  plan  and  all  the 
resources  of  Omnipotence  we  must  not  presume  to 
reject  the  truths  taught  by  God  because  they  are 
at  variance  with  our  limited  notions  of  things. 

Creation,  the  Blessed  Trinity,  and  other  mys- 
teries are  as  incomprehensible  as  the  Real  Pre- 
sence. It  is  an  article  of  faith  that  these  myste- 
ries do  not  contradict,  but  simply  are  beyond  the 
reach  of,  reason.  We  believe  all  because  they 
are  taught  by  God  Himself.  Whatever  is  urged 
against  this  adorable  mystery  is  conceded  to  the 
infidel.  The  many  vain  and  profane  objections 
ventilated  from  the  non-Catholic  press  and  pul- 
pit could  be  advanced  against  the  divinity  of  our 
blessed  Lord  during  all  the  indignities  of  His 
Passion.  It  is  contrary  to  the  testimony  of  the 
senses — this  can  be  advanced  against  the  divini- 
ty of  our  Lord  and  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
under  the  form  of  a  dove  and  cloven  tongues  of 
fire.  The  senses  are  not  the  criterion  of  revealed 
truth ;  their  testimony  is  reliable  within  the 
range  of  nature,  but  no  further.  The  infidel  can 
make  this  objection  against  the  resurrection,  the 
miracles  of  our  Lord,  and  all  divine  institutions. 

God  can  reveal  and  institute  mysteries.  He 
has  done  so.  And  this  is  a  modification  or  change 
of  the  law  of  nature  which  is  the  result  of  our 


EIGHTH   CONFERENCE.  255 

experience  only.  It  pleases  God  to  make  it  de- 
pendent on  a  supernatural  act.  The  effects  of 
Baptism  and  all  the  sacraments  are  beyond  the 
province  of  nature.  Our  experience  in  the  phy- 
sical world  would  lead  us  to  conclude  that  such 
effects  are  impossible.  What  connection  is  there 
between  the  pouring  of  water  on  the  head  of  an 
infant  and  the  washing  of  the  soul  from  sin  1 
The  effect  is  supernatural.  God  binds  Himself 
by  a  covenant,  as  in  the  natural  world,  that  when 
certain  acts  are  performed  He  will  give  them  a 
supernatural  effect.  When  the  Author  of  nature 
makes  certain  effects  dependent  on  certain  spi- 
ritual causes  it  is  no  more  in  opposition  to  the 
laws  of  nature  than  other  supernatural  excep- 
tions. 

In  the  Incarnation  God  took  upon  Himself  our 
nature,  and  subjected  Himself  to  its  conditions  in 
all  but  sin  and  imperfection.  In  the  Eucharist 
the  God-Man  subsists  under  the  appearance  of 
bread  and  wine,  and  subjects  Himself  to  their 
laws  and  conditions.  We  do  not  see  the  inward 
substance  of  anything  ;  it  is  hidden  under  the 
accidents.  Leibnitz  and  other  learned  men  main- 
tain that  transubstantiation  does  not  contradict 
the  senses  in  any  manner,  as  is  vulgarly  objected, 
and  they  assert  that  there  is  no  ground  for  as- 
sailing the  doctrine  on  philosophical  principles. 


256  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

Had  our  Lord  said,  This  bread  is  my  Body 
and  this  wine  is  my  Blood,  there  would  be  a 
contradiction.  In  Greek  there  is  a  difference  of 
genders  between  the  pronoun  this  and  the  noun 
bread.  The  pronoun  defines  His  body  and  blood, 
and  not  the  bread  and  wine.  An  analysis  of  the 
words  in  which  the  pronoun  is  put  establishes 
faith  in  the  Keal  Presence. 

Did  not  our  Lord  style  it  a  commemoration  ? 
St.  Paul  explains  this  when  he  declares  that  the 
Eucharist  is  an  exhibition,  a  shoAving  forth,  and 
a  continuation  of  the  death  of  Christ.  Moreover, 
He  lies  hid  under  the  appearances  and  is  the  ob- 
ject of  faith. 

Our  Lord  designates  the  contents  of  the  cup  as 
the  fruit  of  the  vine.  St.  Luke  relates  that 
these  words  were  used  before  the  consecration. 
But  it  makes  no  difficulty,  for  after  the  change 
of  the  substances  the  outward  appearance  is 
unaltered.  The  great  body  of  objections  against 
the  Peal  Presence  cannot  overthrow  the  doc- 
trine ;  they  are  general  impieties  against  Chris- 
tianity. This  divine  institution  was  prophe- 
sied from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and 
was  typified  by  sacrifice,  by  the  daily  obla- 
tions of  the  law.  It  was  the  fruit  of  the  tree 
of  life  planted  in  the  far-off  paradise  of  God, 
the  remedy  to  heal  the  poison  introduced  into 


EIGHTH   COIiJ^FEKET^CE.  257 

onr  veins  by  the  bite  of  the  venomous  serpent. 
It  was  foreshadowed  by  the  bread  and  wine  of 
Melchisedech,  according  to  whose  order,  and  not 
that  of  Aaron,  Christ  will  be  a  priest  for  ever. 
It  was  typified  by  the  loaves  of  proposition  daily 
renewed  and  placed  before  the  face  of  the  Lord 
in  the  temple ;  by  the  paschal  lamb  and  the  nn- 
leavened  bread  eaten  annually,  and  annually 
commemonited,  by  which  the  people  were  saved 
from  the  angel  of  death.  The  manna  that  fell 
from  heaven  for  forty  years  and  fed  the  peo- 
ple in  the  wilderness  ;  the  particle  of  bread  given 
by  the  angel  to  the  faint  and  weary  prophet, 
by  which  he  was  enabled  to  walk  forty  days 
in  yoiitliful  vigor  until  he  reached  Horeb,  the 
mountain  of  God,  and  was  translated  in  his  car 
of  burning  glory— all  typified  the  most  Holy  Eu- 
charist, our  Lord  Jesus  Clirist,  who  is  always 
with  us  to  the  end  of  time  ;  for  He  will  not  leave 
us  orphans. 

The  Blessed  Eucharist  is  Jesus  Christ,  God 
and  man,  whole  and  entire,  the  Second  Person 
of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  together  with  the  Father 
and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

This  doctrine  is  contained  in  all  liturgies, 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Oriental.  All  the  Fathers 
taught  it,  the  martyrs  died  for  it,  the  saints  re- 
vered and  received  it.     We  have  the  universal 


258  THE   BLESSED  TRINITY. 

consent  of  all  Christian  nations  on  this  fact 
up  to  the  sixteenth  century,  and  of  the  major- 
ity of  civilization  at  the  joresent  day.  Up  to 
the  disastrous  period  of  the  so-called  Reforma- 
tion every  priest  and  bishop  ordained,  every 
altar  and  church  edifice,  attest  this  wonderful 
truth. 

A  few  hours  before  He  entered  on  His  Passion 
our  Lord  fulfilled  His  promise  and  instituted 
the  Holy  Eucharist.  At  the  very  time  the  Jews 
were  plotting  His  death  He  bequeathed  to  man- 
kind the  greatest  prodigy  of  His  love  and  per- 
petuated His  presence  on  earth  to  the  end  of 
time.  Like  preservation,  which  is  the  continual 
going-on  of  the  creative  act,  this  mystery  is  the 
extension  of  the  Incarnation ;  it  makes  our 
Lord  personally  accessible  to  every  human  be- 
ing. We  become  united  to  Him  and  sharers  in 
all  His  merits. 

Seated  with  His  apostles  at  His  last  supper, 
He  took  bread  into  His  holy  and  venerable 
hands,  raised  His  eyes  to  heaven — if  anything 
could  be  an  effort  to  God  it  was  this — He  said, 
This  is  my  Body.  He  took  wine  in  a  cup, 
blessed  it,  and  said.  This  is  my  Blood.  He 
distributed  the  Sacrament  to  His  apostles,  and 
they  ate  and  drank  His  Body  and  Blood,  as 
He  did  Himself.    By  this  act  He  made  good  His 


EIGHTH  CONFERENCE.  259 

promises,  establislied  tlie  priesthood,  and  insti- 
tuted true  Christian  worship. 

SS.  Mark,  Luke,  and  Paul  relate  the  same  cir- 
cumstances, and  in  nearly  the  same  words  as 
St.  Matthew.  St.  John  supplements  the  other 
evangelists  ;  lie  does  not  relate  the  institution, 
but  the  promise  which  the  other  inspired  pen- 
men omitted.  Having  loved  His  own  who  were 
in  the  worlds  He  lorded  them  unto  the  end; 
which  saints  tell  us  means  not  only  to  the  end 
of  His  human  life,  but  to  the  extreme  of  divine 
power.  What  greater  favor  could  infinite  power 
and  love  bestow  ?  By  the  same  power  by  which 
He  changed  water  into  wine,  the  rivers  of  Egypt 
into  blood,  and  called  all  things  from  nothing, 
our  blessed  Lord  at  His  last  supper  changed 
bread  and  wine  into  His  Body  and  Blood.  He 
conferred  the  same  power  on  His  priests,  who 
exercise  it  dally  in  the  Mass,  which  ia  the  un- 
bloody sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  which 
differs  from  the  sacrifice  of  the  cross  in  the 
manner  only  of  the  offering.  The  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass  is  the  same  act  as  the  sacrifice  of  the 
cross  ;  it  is  the  uninterrupted  going-on  of  the 
same,  and  its  application  in  its  totality  to  every 
human  soul  to  the  end  of  the  world.  This  world 
will  last  only  as  long  as  Mass  is  said  ;  when  the 
sacrifice  will  have  ceased  the  world  will  perish. 


260  THE  BLESSED   TEINITT. 

The  words  of  institution  are  so  plain,  so  sim- 
ple, and  so  explicit  tliat  there  is  hardly  room 
for  dispute  or  argument,  according  to  St.  Augus- 
tine's canon  of  interpretation:  "We  must  take 
everything  in  Holy  Writ  in  its  simple  and  natural 
sense,  unless  there  is  a  reason  adduced  for  de- 
parting from  it." 

Created  language  could  not  render  the  words 
more  expressive  of  the  Catholic  doctrine.  All 
civilization  for  sixteen  centuries,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  millions  all  the  world  over  at  this 
hour,  believe  that  the  Eucharist  is  Jesus  Christ 
as  firmly  as  we  believe  in  God  and  in  creation. 
All  that  remains  is  to  rest  behind  the  power  of 
God's  words  until  reasons  are  adduced  to  show 
why  we  should  depart  from  them.  The  onus 
prohandi  is  on  our  separated  friends. 

The  exceptions  are  only  pretensions  ;  they  are 
very  weak,  and  in  a  matter  of  natural  science 
would  not  be  listened  to.  There  is  nothing  more 
common  than  to  impart  to  a  sign  the  name  of  the 
thing  signified.  We  call  a  portrait  by  the  name 
of  the  person  whom  it  represents,  and  a  map  by 
the  name  of  the  country  which  it  describes. 
This  is  very  true.  There  is  a  relation  between 
those  things.  They  represent  the  objects  for 
which  they  are  drawn  and  embrace  their  idea ; 
if  not  they  would  cease  to  be  a  representation. 


EIGHTH  CONFERENCE.  261 

In  the  name  of  all  that  is  sacred,  what  relation  is 
there  between  a  particle  of  bread  and  the  Body 
of  our  Lord  ?  This  the  most  poj^ular  objection  : 
that  in  many  places  in  Holy  Writ  the  verb  ''to 
be  "  means  to  rei)resent,  and  that  it  has  the  same 
meaning  in  the  words  of  institution. 

lam  the  true  vine,  .  .  .  you  the  branches  (John 
XV.  1).  Tlie  rock  was  Clirlst  (1  Cor.  x.  4).  The 
seven  heautiful  klne  .  .  .  are  seven  years  of 
plenty  (Genesis  xli.  26).  It  is  claimed  that  they 
are  parallel  passages  and  explain  the  words  of 
institution.  Permit  me  to  ask  if  there  are  not 
several  thousand  passages  in  Scripture  where  the 
verb  to  he  does  not  mean  to  represent,  but  has  its 
literal  meaning  % 

By  what  process  of  reason  are  you  authorized 
to  detach  the  words  of  institution  from  the  mul- 
titude of  i^laces  and  join  them  to  the  few  that 
always  form  the  excex^tion  ?  Because  we  do  not 
say  childs  but  children,  the  plural  number  of 
names  is  no  longer  found  by  adding  s  to  the  sin- 
gular !  This  answer  defeats  the  objection.  But 
to  join  more  closely,  no  passages  are  parallel, 
nor  can  they  explain  each  other  because  they 
contain  the  same  words  ;  they  must  contain  the 
same  idea.  All  those  passages  are  equivalent 
and  explain  each  other,  for  they  contain  the  same 
idea. 


262  THE   BLESSED   TRINITY. 

/  ain  the  vine.  The  rock  was  Qlirist.  Tlie 
ten  horns  are  ten  Mngdoms.  The  reapers  are 
the  angels.  The  harvest  is  the  end  of  the  world. 
These  are  parallel,  for  they  contain  the  same 
symbolical  teaching,  a  dream,  a  vision,  or  a  para- 
ble. Even  the  sacred  penmen  tell  lis  they  are 
speaking  symbolically :  The  rock  was  Christ. 
.  .  .  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  vision  which  I 
saw. 

God  does  not  give  ns  this  key  to  the  interpre- 
tation of  His  words.  The  world  understands 
them  as  they  were  spoken.  They  are  plain  and 
simple  and  grand  like  God.  Tliis  mystery  sus- 
tains Christianity. 

There  are  two  other  passages  in  Scripture 
which  prove  this  faith  most  clearly.  St.  Paul 
contrasts  the  Jewish  and  pagan  sacrifices  with 
the  Christian.  He  asserts  that  ours  are  as  real 
and  as  substantially  partaken  of  as  theirs  (1 
Cor.  X.  16).  The  chalice  of  benediction  which 
we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  Blood 
of  Christ  f  And  the  bread  which  we  break,  is 
it  not  the  partaking  of  the  Body  of  the  Lord? 
St.  Paul  describes  the  institution  as  do  the  evan- 
gelists, and  in  the  same  words.  But  he  was  not 
content  with  the  bare  narrative.  He  draws  prac- 
tical conclusions,  bases  upon  it  solemn  injunc- 
tions   accompanied    with    awful    threats,   using 


EIGHTH  CONFERENCE.  263 

words  that  cannot  mislead :  Let  a  man  prove 
and  try  himself.  He  that  eateth  and  drinketh 
unworthily  eateth  and  drinTieth  judgment  to  him- 
self^ not  discerning  the  Body  of  the  Lord.  He 
declares  that  a  man  drinks  damnation  to  himself 
because  he  does  not  distinguish  the  Body  of  the 
Lord  from  other  food.  If  the  body  of  the  Lord 
is  not  present  there  is  no  room  for  the  distinction. 
An  unworthy  participation  may  be  a  sin  against 
Almighty  God,  but  surely  not  a  sin  against 
Christ's  body. 

To  be  guilty  of  murder  a  person  must  destroy, 
not  a  picture  or  photogi*aph,  but  human  life. 
Unless  our  Lord's  body  is  in  the  Eucharist  an 
abuse  of  the  Eucharist  cannot  be  designated  as 
an  actual  injury  offered  to  His  sacred  person. 
To  say  that  a  person  offends  against  God  is  a 
stronger  asseveration  of  guilt  than  to  say  that  he 
offends  against  the  body  of  Christ,  except  by 
personal  injury,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Jews,  who 
nailed  Him  to  the  cross. 

Now,  to  sum  up,  our  Lord  promised  this  insti- 
tution a  long  time  before  his  death.  The  multi- 
tudes leave  Him,  the  disciples  waver,  the  apos- 
tles are  in  doubt.  They  ask  Him  what  He  means. 
He  does  not  explain  by  saying  that  he  is  speak- 
ing of  a  memorial  only,  or  of  a  figure,  or  of  faith, 
but  He  insists  on  the  necessity  of  eating  His 


264  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

Body  and  drinking  His  Blood.  All  the  evan- 
gelists relate  it  in  tlie  same  words,  St.  Paul,  in 
writing  to  the  Corinthians,  describes  it  in  the 
same  manner.  Is  it  not  strange  that  our  Lord 
and  all  the  evangelists,  writing  on  so  many  dif- 
ferent occasions,  should  use  the  identical  words 
and  never  once  intimate  that  it  was  a  figure  ? 

In  a  word,  if  the  Eucharist  is  not  God,  Jesus 
Christ  has  deceived  the  world,  buried  it  in  idola- 
try and  vice,  and  left  us  without  hope.  God  for- 
bid !  And  why  should  He  not  give  us  His  Body 
and  Blood  ?  We  must  adore  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
as  we  do  the  Blessed  Trinity,  with  sujoreme  wor- 
ship, and  not  with  the  relative  homage  that  we 
render  to  the  angels  and  saints,  or  even  to  the 
Mother  of  God. 

As  God,  Christ  fills  all  creation  and  is  inti- 
mately present  in  all  places  and  things.  It  is  as 
God  and  man  that  He  exists  in  this  wonderful 
mystery  and  merits  the  homage  of  all  angels  and 
men.  So  explicitly  is  this  doctrine  taught  that 
during  almost  sixteen  centuries  it  was  every- 
where believed,  and  is  believed  at  this  day  by 
nearly  every  Christian  community  except  the 
Protestant  sects.  It  is  cherished  by  the  vast  Rus- 
sian Empire,  the  Greeks,  the  Nestorians,  the 
Chaldeans,  the  Armenians,  the  Abyssinians ; 
and  all  these,   though  separated  from    us    for 


EIGHTH   CONFEEENCE.  265 

more  than  a  thousand  years,  believe  it,  as  do 
more  than  two  hundred  millions  of  Catholics. 
Like  the  pyramid  in  the  desert,  it  gathers  un- 
der its  base  all  the  civilization  and  greatness, 
equally  as  all  the  tribes  and  nations,  of  the 
earth. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  living  heart  and  soul  of  the 
Church,  which  explains  the  solemnity  of  our 
ceremonies,  the  splendor  of  our  vestments,  the 
beauty  of  our  altars,  the  grandeur  of  our  church 
edifices,  because  we  build  them,  not  for  ourselves, 
but  for  God  in  the  tabernacle.  The  celibacy  of 
our  clergy,  the  detachment  of  our  monks  and 
nuns,  and  the  devotion  of  all  our  faithful  are  the 
consequences  of  this  marvellous  faith. 

It  equalizes  all  the  human  race :  the  pope  and 
the  layman,  the  king  and  the  peasant,  the  rich 
and  the  poor,  all  sit  at  the  same  table.  Faith, 
hope,  and  charity  meet  here,  and  all  other  vir- 
tues. If  the  greatest  sinner  living  went  to  his 
confession,  received  absolution  and  the  Holy 
Communion  worthily,  our  first  theologian  says 
he  could  be  canonized.  Protestantism  is  a  loose 
name.  Formerly  it  was  definite  ;  now  it  implies 
the  thousand  sects  who,  though  divided  among 
themselves,  deny  the  Church  of  God.  Every 
Christian  community  in  the  world  holds  this 
faith  with  this  one  exception  of  Protestants.     So 


266  THE  BLESSED   TRINITY. 

expressly  was  it  taught  that  it  was  not  expressly 
denied  until  the  eleventh  century. 

All  the  vast  Russian  Empire  presses  it  to  its 
heart,  from  Behring  Strait  and  the  Aleutian 
Islands  and  on  to  Moscow.  The  Nestorians,  the 
Armenians,  the  Chaldeans,  and  all  Oriental  sects, 
even  Theodore  of  Abyssinia,  though  separated 
from  us  more  than  a  thousand  years,  hold  this 
faith  as  firmly  as  Leo  XIII.  Some  two  hundred 
and  fifty  millions  living  to-day  believe  it,  and  I 
hope  would,  like  me  or  any  American  Catholic 
priest,  die  for  it.  Our  poor  isolated  sects  have 
some  flashes  of  the  truth  when  they  speak  of 
ministers,  communion,  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
such  other  vague  terms.  It  is  difficult  to  believe 
how  good  God  is  ;  and  this  attribute  is  a  tempta- 
tion to  faith,  and  its  greatest. 

It  has  pleased  God  to  make  this  world  the 
theatre  of  His  most  wonderful  works,  and  He  has 
honored  some  places  on  this  poor  earth  with  si)e- 
cial  manifestations  of  His  presence.  It  is  our  duty 
to  display  a  special  devotion  to  these  holy  places. 

Jacob  built  an  altar  at  Bethlehem,  where  he 
was  favored  with  a  miraculous  vision.  Moses  at 
the  burning  bush,  David  before  the  ark,  and  Sol- 
omon in  his  temple  paid  their  most  profound 
adoration  to  the  majesty  of  Heaven,  that  visited 
and  blessed  these  things  and  places. 


EIGHTH  CONFERENCE.  267 

These  visits  were  but  transitory,  and  cannot  be 
compared  to  the  real  and  permanent  presence  of 
the  Almighty  on  our  altars  in  all  places  and  in 
all  times,  every  moment  day  and  night.  The  Holy 
Eucharist  is  not  a  figure  nor  a  symbol,  but  Jesus 
Christ,  true  God  and  true  man,  who  was  born  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  transfigured  on  Tha- 
bor,  agonized  in  the  garden,  crucified  on  Mount 
Calvary,  who  rose  from  the  dead,  ascended  into 
heaven,  is  adored  by  angels,  and  will  come  again 
to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead. 

Must  we  not  be  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of 
our  unworthiness  when  we  kneel  before  the  taber- 
nacle or  approach  Him  in  the  Holy  Communion  ? 
Our  miseries  and  weakness  must  cause  us  to  ex- 
claim with  St.  Peter  :  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am 
a  sinful  man^  0  Lord  !  But  He  bears  our  infii'- 
mities  and  bids  us  come  to  Him. 

We  should  honor  and  love  Him  the  more  in 
the  Blessed  Sacrament  because,  in  order  to  be 
with  us,  He  has  not  only  wrought  His  greatest 
wonders,  but  He  has  divested  Himself  of  all 
His  splendors  and  submitted  to  the  greatest  in- 
dignities. He  is  unnoticed  and  neglected  even 
by  His  true  believers,  denied  by  others,  con- 
temned and  blasphemed  by  millions. 

In  former  times,  when  the  divine  Majesty 
deigned  to  visit  and  speak  to  us.  He  was  always 


268  THE  BLESSED  TRINITY. 

clad  in  many  of  His  splendors,  showing  Himself 
to  be  nature' s  Gfod.  Our  first  parents  hide  them- 
selves among  the  trees  and  caves  of  Eden  ;  Jacob 
is  filled  v^ith  awe  under  the  starry  heavens  of 
Mesopotamia  ;  Moses  and  all  Israel  in  the  desert 
fear  and  tremble,  and  Elias  is  aw^e-struck  on 
Horeb. 

In  the  humiliations  of  His  mortal  life  heaven 
and  earth  and  all  nature,  in  one  universal  voice, 
proclaim  the  present  Deity.  The  priest  holds 
the  Sacred  Host  between  two  fingers,  exhibits 
Him  to  us,  and  says  :  Beliold  the  Larrib  of  God. 
Life  itself  gives  no  sign  of  life  ;  He  who  bears 
up  the  weight  of  the  universe  needs  support  or 
He  will  fall  to  the  ground.  The  Eternal  Word  is 
silent,  man  is  silent,  angels  are  silent,  reason  is 
silent,  the  senses  are  silent.  And  justly  ;  for  all 
creatures  should  be  silent  before  the  face  of  the 
Lord. 

But  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  is  eloquent  and 
its  sound  fills  the  world.  We  know  who  He  is  : 
He  is  our  Lord  and  master,  our  friend,  our  lover, 
our  Creator  and  Redeemer,  our  first  beginning 
and  our  last  end,  the  companion  of  our  exile, 
the  infinite  God  with  all  His  divine  perfections. 
We  should  often  visit  Him,  we  sliould  profound- 
ly adore  Him  and  receive  Him  worthily  ;  then 
should  we  experience,  in  a  measure,  the  happi- 


EIGHTH  CONFERENCE.  269 

ness  of  the  disciples  on  Thabor ;  Lord^  it  is  good 
for  us  to  he  here.  The  Three  Divine  Persons  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity  are  present  in  the  Holy  Eu- 
charist, the  pledge  and  foretaste  of  eternal  life. 

In  the  Blessed  Eucharist  our  Lord  restores  to 
us  the  humanity  He  had  received  from  us  in  the 
splendors  of  its  glory,  thus  fitting  us  to  be  the 
tabernacles  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  for  evermore. 
God  bestows  to  us  not  only  all  that  He  possesses 
and  w^ill  ever  create,  but  His  own  self  with  all 
His  infinite  perfections. 

Grace  is  a  participation  of  the  divine  nature — 
and  He  communicates  Himself  to  us  by  its  prin- 
cipal gifts,  which  are  faith,  hope,  and  charity, 
by  which,  says  a  renowned  theologian,  we  are  not 
only  made  like  to  God,  but  He  also  is  united 
with  us.  The  communication  is  perfected  in 
heaven  by  the  gifts  of  glory.  By  these  gifts  we 
not  only  attain  the  highest  possible  similitude  to 
God,  but  become  deiform,  shining  like  the  Di- 
vinity and  exhibiting  the  most  perfect  image  of 
the  Blessed  Trinity.  By  the  light  of  glory, 
continues  the  theologian,  we  are  made  like  the 
Father  ;  by  the  vision  of  the  divine  essence  and 
the  divine  Persons  we  are  made  like  the  Son  ; 
by  beatific  love  we  are  made  like  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
by  joy  and  the  participation  of  the  divine  attri- 
butes we  become  like  the  Godhead  in  beatitude. 


270  THE  BLESSED  TEINITY. 

O  tappy  home,  bosom  of  tlie  most  Holy  Tri- 
nity !  when  shall  we  reach  thee  ?  Mane  no- 
Mscum^  Domine^  quia  advesperascit. 

0  the  depth  of  the  riches  of  the  wisdom  and 
of  the  Jcnowledge  of  God  !  How  incomprehen- 
sible are  His  judgments^  and  how  unsearchable 
His  ways  !  For  of  Him^  and  by  Him^  and  in 
Him  are  all  things  :  to  Him  be  glory  for  ever. 
Amen  (Romans  xi.  33,  36). 


